W  -   f/M 


mkm^ 


*m 


IDOCATIOH  IIBR. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


Education 

GIFT  OF 


Louise  Farrow  Barr 


Ja_col>        Alio  "ft 


STORIES 

TOLD   TO 

ROLLO'S   COUSIN   LUCY,  WHEN   SHE 
WAS   A   LITTLE   GIRL. 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE  ROLLO  BOOKS. 

THE   LUCY   SERIES 

IS    COMPOSED    OF   SIX   VOLUMES,    VIZ.  : 


Lucy  Among  the  Mountains. 
Lucy's  Conversations. 
Lucy  on  the  Sea-Shore. 


Lucy  at  Study. 

Lucy  at  Play. 

Stories  told  to  Cousin  Lucy. 


A   NEW   EDITION,    REVISED   BY   THE  AUTHOR. 


NEW    YORK: 
THOMAS   Y.   CROWELL   &    CO.. 

No.  13  Astor  Place. 


Education 

GIFT 


NOTICE. 


The  simple  delineations  of  the  or- 
dinary incidents  and  Feelings  which 
characterize  childhood,  that  are  con- 
tained in  the  Hollo  Books,  having  been 
found  to  interest,  and,  as  the  author 
hopes,  in  some  degree  to  benefit  the 
young  readers  for  whom  they  were 
designed, — the  plan  is  herein  extended 
to  children  of  the  other  sex.  The  two 
first  volumes  of  the  series  are  Lucy's 
Conversations  and  Lucy's  Stories. 
Lucy  was  Hollo's  cousin;  and  the  au- 
thor hopes  that  the  history  of  her  life 
and  adventures  may  be  entertaining 
and  useful  to  the  sisters  of  the  boys 
who  have  honored  the  Rollo  Books 
with  their  approval. 


3r>*7 


Ana. 

st 

library 


CONTENTS 


Page. 
CHAPTER  I. 

An  Adventure 9 


CHAPTER  II. 
Joanna's  Room a    .    .    22 

CHAPTER  III. 
Story  of  the  Fog  on  the  Mountains  ...    36 

CHAPTER  JV. 
Mary  Jay 49 

CHAPTER  V. 
Story  of  the  Old  Polander 63 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Morocco  Book 72 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Story  of  Rocksy 84 


O  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
CHAPTER  Vin. 

Royal's  Story 94 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Morocco  Book  again— The  Stormy  Even- 
ing   116 

CHAPTER  X. 
A  Dialogue  — The  Quagmire 125 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Sabbath  Day  — Victor's  Meeting  .    .    .    .    1o7 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Rachel 145 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Marielle's  Little  Book  —  The  Story  of  Alice; 
or,  Self-Possession 154 

CHAPTER  XIY. 
Playing  College 108 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Stranger's  Story 172 


LUCY'S   STOEIES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

AN  ADVENTURE. 


When  Rollo's  cousin  Lucy  was  a  very  little 
girl,  she  slept  in  a  trundle-bed.  She  awoke  one 
morning,  and  heard  a  bird  singing  out  in  the  yard. 
The  window  was  open.  The  tops  of  the  trees 
were  brightened  by  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun. 

"It  is  morning,"  said  Lucy  to  herself,  "I 
truly  believe." 

Then  Lucy  tried  to  think  whether  she  had 
been  asleep  or  not ;  but  she  could  not  tell.  She 
thought  she  had  not.  She  remembered  that,  the 
day  before,  she  had  been  to  take  a  walk  with  Miss 
Anne,  and  that  they  had  got  caught  out  in  the 
rain,  and  had  gone  under  a  bridge  for  shelter  until 
the  shower  was  over. 

Just  then  she  heard  a  little  noise  like  the  rus- 


10  LUCY'S    STORIES. 

tling  of  the  leaves  of  a  book.  It  seemed  to  come 
from  the  window  where  Miss  Anne  used  to  sit. 
Lucy  could  not  see,  because  the  great  bed  was  in 
the  way.     She  thought  it  was  Miss  Anne  reading. 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  she. 

"  Ah,  are  you  awake,  Lucy  ?  "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Yes,  and  I  want  to  get  up." 

Miss  Anne  told  Lucy  that  she  might  get  up, 
and  she  did. 

When  she  was  dressed,  Miss  Anne  asked  her 
how  she  felt  after  her  adventure  the  day  before 

"  Adventure  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  our  adventure  under 
the  bridge." 

"  O,  pretty  well,"  said  Lucy.  "  Was  that  an 
adventure  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  when  we  are  out 
walking,  or  are  travelling,  and  anything  remark- 
able happens  to  us,  we  call  it  an  adventure. 
When  I  was  a  child,  I  had  an  adventure  some- 
what similar  to  that." 

"  What  was  it  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  shall  have  time  to  tell  you 
before  the  bell  will  ring.     However,  I  will  begin. 

u  I  was  quite  a  little  girl " 

"  Not  so  big  as  I  ? "  interrupted  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  just  about  as  big  is 


AN    ADVENTURE.  11 

you.  My  father  was  going  to  take  a  journey,  and 
he  said  that  I  might  go  too.  I  don't  remember 
much  about  the  first  day,  though  we  had  a  very 
pleasant  ride.  The  second  day  we  got  to  the 
mountains.  I  liked  riding  among  the  mountains, 
for  I  could  put  my  head  out  of  the  carriage  win- 
dow, and  see  the  precipices  towering  away  above 
my  head." 

"  D:d  you  travel  in  a  carriage  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Y  js,"  replied  Miss  Anne,  "  we  were  in  a 
carriage.  My  father  and  mother  sat  upon  the 
back  seat,  and  I  upon  the  front.  There  was  a 
great  trunk  strapped  on  behind.  I  remember,  too, 
that  there  was  a  pocket  in  the  inside  of  the  car- 
riage, under  the  window,  where  I  kept  my  picture- 
book.     There  was  another,  bigger  book  there,  too. 

"  We  rode  along  that  day  in  a  very  wild,  soli 
tary  place,  where  there  were  no  houses.  There 
was  a  foaming  river  on  one  side  of  the  road,  and 
rocks  and  mountains  upon  the  other.  At  last  we 
turned  away  from  the  river,  and  went  along  a  road 
where  there  was  nothing  but  woods,  and  rocks, 
snd  mountains  all  around.  I  remember  that  1 
rode  almost  all  the  way  kneeling  up  on  the  cusk 
ion  of  the  front  seat,  looking  out. 

"  I  asked  my  father  if  he  expected  to  find  any 
tavern  on  such  a  road  as  that,  and  he  said  he  did 


12 


not :  I  then  asked  him  what  we  were  going  to  do 
for  dinner,  and  he  said  I  should  see. 

"  By  and  by,  when  we  were  going  up  a  long 
hill,  and  had  got  nearly  to  the  top  of  it,  my  father 
told  Jotham  that  he  might  begin  to  look  out  a 
place." 

"  Who  was  Jotham  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  Jotham  was  our  man.  He  was  driving 
us,"  answered  Miss  Anne. 

"After  about  half  an  hour,  Jotham  stopped 
in  the  middle  of  the  road,  and  asked  my  father  if 
that  place  would  do  ;  and  we  all  looked  out  of  the 
window  to  see. 

"We  found  that  there  was  a  brook  running  across 
the  road,  under  a  small  bridge ;  it  came  tumbling 
down  among  rocks  and  precipices  on  one  side, 
and,  after  crossing  the  road,  it  went  down  through 
a  kind  of  a  ravine  upon  the  other.  A  ravine,  you 
must  understand,  is  a  kind  oi  dee^,  dark,  and  nar- 
row valley.  The  ravine,  and  the  sides  of  the  hills 
all  around,  were  covered  with  forests.  Father 
looked  at  the  place  a  minute  or  two,  and  then  he 
said  that  Jotham  might  drive  on.  until  he  came  to 
the  next  stream. 

"  I  asked  him  why  this  place  would  not  do ; 
and  he  said  that  the  trees  and  bushes  were  too 
thick      So  we  went  on  down  a  long  descent,  un 


AJT    ADVENTURE.  13 

til.  at  last,  after  we  had  gone  about  half  a  mile, 
Jotnam  stopped  again.  My  father  looked  out  of 
the  window  a  minute,  and  then  told  Jotham  that 
we  would  get  out.  So  Jotham  opened  the  car- 
riage door,  and  we  all  got  out. 

"  We  found  that  there  was  a  brook  here  too, 
but  it  was  running  more  smoothly.  There  was  a 
sort  of  cart  path,  which  turned  off  from  the  road, 
on  the  lower  side,  and  led  into  the  woods,  along 
the  bank  of  the  brook.  My  father  asked  Jotham 
if  he  thought  he  could  drive  in  there ;  and  Jotham 
said  he  could.  Then  my  father  asked  him  if  he 
thought  he  could  find  a  place  to  turn,  if  he  drove 
in ;  and  Jotham  said  he  could  turn  anywhere 
So  we  all  walked  in,  and  Jotham  came  in  after 
wards,  driving  the  carriage. 

"  Presently  we  came  to  a  beautiful  place.  It 
was  a  small,  smooth  piece  of  ground,  about  as  large 
as  this  room,  with  the  cart  path  upon  one  side,  and 
a  turn  of  the  brook  sweeping  around  it  upon  tha 
other.  The  brook  was  very  beautiful.  The  wa- 
ter flowed  along  quietly  among  round  stones,  which 
were  covered  above  the  water  with  soft,  green  moss. 
The  water  was  pretty  deep  in  some  places  ;  but  it 
was  very  clear,  so  that  I  could  see  the  sand  and 
pebbles  upon  the  oottom ;  and  in  one  place  I  saw 
three  great  fishes ;  one  was  as  long  as  my  finger 


14  lucy's  stories. 

"  We  all  rambled  about  a  few  minutes,  while 
Jotham  unharnessed  the  horses,  and  gave  them 
some  oats." 

"  O  Miss  Anne !  "  interrupted  Lucy,  "  I  don't 
believe  that  mis  is  a  true  story  that  you  are  telling 
me ;  for  he  could  not  get  any  oats  for  his  horses 
in  such  a  place  as  that." 

"  Yes,  he  brought  the  oats  with  him  in  a  bag, 
under  his  seat.  He  knew  that  we  were  going  to 
dine  in  camp  that  day,  though  I  didn't ;  and  so 
he  made  preparation.  Well,  after  he  had  taken 
care  of  the  horses,  he  took  a  hatchet  out  from 
under  his  seat,  and  began  to  cut  some  short  poles 
to  make  some  seats  with." 

"  I  don't  see  how  he  could  make  seats  of 
poles,"  said  Lucy. 

"  I  have  forgotten  exactly  how  he  did  it ;  but 
somehow  or  other  he  laid  them  along  close  to- 
gether,  and  kept  the  ends  up  by  some  large 
stones ;  and  then  he  put  the  cushions  of  the  car- 
riage over  them,  so  as  to  make  a  very  y;Tod 
seat.  Then  he  went  and  got  a  great,  heavy  bas- 
ket from  the  front  of  the  carriage.  It  had  our 
dinner  in  it. 

"  So  we  sat  upon  our  seats  and  ate  our  dinner. 
VV  e  had  bread  and  butter,  and  cheese  and  cakes, 
and  a  little  apple-pie.     There  was  a  jug  of  milk, 


AN    ADVENTURE.  15 

too,  for  us  to  drink.  We  staid  there  as  much  as 
an  hour ;  and  I  had  a  fine  time,  after  dinner,  play- 
ing about  on  the  banks  of  the  brook.  My  moth- 
er rambled  around,  gathering  flowers;  and  as  for 
my  father,  he  went  and  got  into  the  carriage,  and 
took  a  nap." 

Lucy  thought  that  a  carriage  without  any 
horses,  was  a  singular  place  for  a  nap ;  but  she 
did  not  interrupt  Miss  Anne  to  say  anything 
about  it. 

"After  a  time,"  continued  Miss  Anne,  "my 
father  came  to  the  seats  again,  where  my  mother 
and  I  were  arranging  our  flowers.  He  told  us 
that  Jotham  was  putting  the  horses  to  the  car- 
riage, and  that  it  was  time  for  us  to  get  ready  to 
go.  So  we  got  into  the  carriage  presently,  and 
Jotham  drove  us  out  into  the  main  road,  and  then 
we  trotted  along  on  our  way." 

"  And  was  that  the  adventure  which  you 
had  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  That  was  a  kind  of  an  adventure,"  said  Miss 
Anne,  "  but  not  the  one  I  meant.  The  adven- 
ture which  I  meant  particularly,  is  yet  to  come. 
It  happened  that  night,  about  sundown.  You 
understand  it  was  a  beautiful  summer's  day  ;  ana 
it  was  so  far  to  the  place  where  we  had  to  stop, 
that  we  did  not  expect  to  get  there  until  the  even- 


16  lucy's  stories. 

ing      But  about  half  an  hour  before  sundown,  we 
began  to  hear  some  thunder. 

"  I  kneeled  up,  upon  the  cushion,  and  looked 
out  to  see  if  I  could  see  the  cloud.  There  was  a 
great  valley  spread  out  before  me,  and  a  range  of 
mountains  beyond  it.  Above  the  mountains  the 
clouds  began  to  be  piled  up  higher  and  higher. 
They  were  white  and  rounded  above,  and  dark 
below.  Presently  I  saw  a  faint  flash  of  lightning. 
My  father  asked  Jotham  how  much  farther  we 
had  got  to  go,  and  he  said  about  five  miles ;  and 
my  father  told  him  to  drive  as  fast  as  he  could. 

"  The  cloud  rose  higher  and  higher,  and  began 
to  look  very  black  indeed.  The  mountains  undei 
it,  and  the  great  valley,  looked  dark  and  gloomy. 
Presently  we  went  down  a  hill  into  a  narrow 
place,  with  rocks  and  precipices  on  each  side, 
where  we  could  not  see  the  clouds  any  more,  but 
could  only  hear  the  thunder  now  and  then. 
Pretty  soon,  father  put  the  curtains  down,  and 
shut  the  windows,  and  then  it  was  quite  dark 
inside  the  coach,  and  the  flashes  of  lightning 
grew  brighter. 

"Next  it  began  to  rain.  Some  great  drops 
struck  upon  the  window,  and  a  great  gust  of  wind 
blew  furiously  over  the  tops  of  the  trees.  The 
rain  came  faster  and  faster,  and  the  water  began 


AN    ADVENTURE.  17 

to  pour  down  in  torrents  all  around  us.  1  kiieeled 
up,  and  looked  out  at  the  front  window  to  see 
what  Jotham  was  doing.  He  had  an  umbrella 
over  his  head,  and  a  great  shaggy  coat  on ;  and 
just  at  that  instant  there  came  such  a  bright  flash 
of  lightning  as  to  dazzle  my  eyes  so  that  I  could 
hardly  see,  and  immediately  afterwards,  a  most 
terrible  burst  of  loud,  rattling  sound,  just  over  our 
heads,  which  frightened  me  very  much  ;  for  I 
thought  that  we  were  struck  with  lightning.  But 
it  did  not  hurt  us ;  for  the  noise,  after  it  had  rattled 
all  over  the  sky,  rolled  and  rumbled  off,  away 
beyond  the  mountains.  But  before  it  was  gone, 
we  heard  another  great  crash  just  before  us  ;  and 
instantly  Jotham  stopped  the  horses.  My  father 
called  out  to  him  to  know  what  was  the  matter ; 
and  he  said  that  a  tree  had  fallen  directly  across 
the  road. 

"  My  father  looked  out  at  the  front  window,  as 
well  as  he  could,  to  see  the  free ;  and  I  tried  to 
look  too,  but  it  was  so  dark  that  I  could  not  set 
it  very  well.  Jotham  moved  his  horses  on  till 
they  came  up  to  it ;  and  my  father  asked  him  how 
large  a  tree  it  was.     He  said  it  was  very  large 

" '  What  shall  we  do  ? '  said  my  father. 

"  '  It  lies  up  too  high  for  us  to  get  the  carriage 
over  it/  said  Jotham. 


18  LUCYS    STORIES. 

* '  Could  we,  both  of  us,  move  it  with  hand- 
spikes,' said  my  father,  *  so  as  to  get  by  ? ' 

"  '  No,  sir,'  said  Jotham  ;  *  ten  men  could  not 
move  it.  I  could  hack  it  off  in  time  near  the 
rtump  with  my  hatchet ;  but  I  think  it  probable 
that  the  quickest  way  would  be  for  me  to  go  on 
with  one  of  the  horses  and  get  an  axe.' 

" '  How  far  is  it  ? '  said  my  father. 

"  Jotham  said  that  he  thought  it  must  be  about 
two  miles  and  a  half.  My  father  then  asked  him 
if  it  would  not  be  possible  in  any  way  to  go  out 
of  the  road,  and  get  the  carriage  through  the  trees, 
and  so  get  by ;  but  Jotham  said  it  was  very  steep 
and  rocky  on  both  sides,  and  he  thought  it  would 
not  be  possible  to  get  round. 

"  So  it  was  finally  concluded  that  he  should  go 
for  an  axe.  He  accordingly  drove  the  horses  up 
very  close  to  the  tree,  and  fastened  one  of  them  to 
a  large  branch.  Then  he  took  the  other  out  of 
his  harness,  and  mounted  him.  He  tried  to  make 
him  jump  over  the  tree ;  but  he  would  not,  it  was 
so  high. 

"  He  then  drove  him  out  of  the  road  into  the 
wishes,  though  it  was  raining  and  thundering  all 
the  time.  I  looked  out  at  the  front  windows,  and 
pretty  soon  I  saw  him  come  out  of  me  woods 
again,  beyond  the  tree,  and  ride  off  as  fast  as  he 
could  go. 


AN    ADVENTURE.  19 

"It  diJ  not  thunder  and  lighten  so  much  after 
this,  but  it  continued  to  rain  ;  and  it  began  to 
grow  pretty  dark.  My  father  put  his  arm  out  at 
the  front  window,  and  reached  one  of  the  lanterns 
of  the  carriage,  and  took  it  in.  He  had  some 
matches  in  a  little  box,  and  so  he  lighted  the  lan- 
tern, and  that  made  it  look  more  bright  and  cheer 
ful  in  the  carriage  ;  but  it  began  to  grow  very 
dark  and  dismal  without.  There  was  nothing, 
however,  that  we  could  do,  but  to  wait  patiently 
until  Jotham  came  back. 

"  I  tried  to  look  at  my  picture-book  a  little 
while ;  but  I  found  that  I  did  not  care  much 
about  it,  and  so  I  put  it  back,  and  my  mother 
gave  me  a  piece  of  cake  to  eat.  When  I  had  eaten 
the  cake,  she  advised  me  to  lie  down  upon  the 
front  seat,  and  see  how  many  I  could  count  be- 
tween the  flashes  of  lightning  and  the  thunder 
that  came  after  the  flashes.  And  1  did.  I  lay 
down  and  counted  a  long  time." 

"  How  many  could  you  count  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  O,  I  don't  remember  exactly,"  said  Miss 
Anne ;  u  sometimes  more  and  sometimes  less  — 
according  to  the  distance." 

"  Th«  distance,"  said  Lucy,  —  "  what  dis- 
tance ? " 

"Why,  the  distance  of  the  thunder  from  us 


20  lucy's  stories. 

The  lightning  and  the  thunder  are  always,  in  fact, 
at  the  same  moment  of  time ;  and  when  they  are 
near,  they  seem  so.  But  when  thoy  are  at  any 
distance,  although  the  flash  and  the  sound  take 
place  together,  yet  we  see  the  flash  at  once,  while 
it  takes  the  sound  some  time  to  come  to  us  ;  and 
that  gives  us  time  to  count.  And  the  farther  off 
the  thunder  is,  the  longer  time  we  have  to  count." 

14 1  mean  to  count,"  said  Lucy,  "  the  next  time 
I  hear  any  thunder." 

"  I  lay  still  a  long  time,"  continued  Miss  Anne, 
(<  counting ;  at  length  there  seemed  to  be  some- 
tning  strange  happening;  and  the  first  thing  1 
knew,  my  father  was  taking  me  out  of  the  car- 
riage in  his  arms.  I  opened  my  eyes,  and  saw 
that  there  was  a  bright  moon  shining  upon  a 
house.  There  were  lights  in  the  windows  of  the 
house.  There  was  a  strange  man,  whom  I  had 
never  seen  before.  I  could  not  think  where  I 
was,  and  what  my  father  was  going  to  do  with 
me.  He  carried  me  into  the  house,  and  through 
a  long  entry,  and  into  a  little  back  sitting-room, 
where  there  was  a  fire.  My  mother  was  there, 
taking  off  her  bonnet.  My  father  laid  me  down 
upon  a  settee  which  had  a  cushion  upon  it,  ana 
then  went  out  again. 

"  I  asked  my  mother  what  house  that  was,  and 


AS    ADVENTUKE.  21 

she  said  that  it  was  the  tavern.  I  asked  her  how 
we  got  over  that  great  tree ;  and  she  said  that 
Jotham  came  back  with  the  axe  and  cut  it  off.  1 
told  her  that  I  did  not  hear  him,  and  she  said  that 
I  had  been  asleep.  '  O  no/  I  said,  *  I  have  not 
been  asleep,  I  am  sure.'  My  mother  said  that 
then  she  did  not  know  why  I  did  not  hear  Jo- 
tham ;  for  he  came  back  with  an  axe,  and 
chopped  a  long  time  upon  the  tree,  until  he  got  it 
off,  and  that  then  my  father  had  got  out  of  the 
carriage,  and  helped  him  heave  away  the  log,  with 
handspikes,  and  so  they  had  got  by. 

"  So  I  suppose  I  must  have  been  asleep ;  but 
it  did  not  seem  to  me  that  I  had." 

"  Is  that  all  the  story  ?  "  said  Lucy,  when  sbe 
found  that  Miss  Anne  paused. 

«  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  is  all." 


23 


CHAPTER    II. 

JOANNA'S    ROOM. 

There  was  a  little  room  near  the  kitchen,  in 
the  house  where  Lucy  lived,  which  was  called 
Joanna's  room.  It  was  a  very  pleasant  room,  and 
it  had  been  built  on  purpose  for  Joanna.  There 
was  only  a  small  entry  between  this  room  and  dw 
kitchen,  and  so  it  was  very  convenient  for  her 

Joanna  used  to  go  and  sit  in  this  room  some* 
times,  in  the  afternoon,  after  she  had  done  her 
work ;  and  here  Lucy  was  very  fond  of  going  to 
see  her.  Lucy  liked  to  be  in  Joanna's  room,  for 
it  was  a  pleasant  place,  and  she  could  look  out  of 
the  window  into  the  yard  and  garden.  Under  the 
window  was  a  little  border  which  Joanna  planted; 
and  which  was  called  Joanna's  garden. 

One  afternoon,  Lucy  came  to  this  room,  and 
knocked.  The  door  was  open,  for  it  was  a 
pleasant  summer  afternoon,  and  she  roulrl  see 
Joanna  sitting  at  a  table,  writing.  Still  she 
knocked.  Her  mother  had  told  her  tbn  it  was 
alwavs  proper  to  knock  when  she  wished  to  eiite/ 


23 


any  private  room.  And  Joanna's  room  was  a 
private  room ;  it  belonged  to  Joanna  alone. 

At  first,  Joanna  did  not  notice  Lucy,  as  she 
was  very  busy,  writing.  Presently,  however,  ?he 
looked  up  and  said,  "  Come  in." 

Lucy  walked  in.  She  had  a  little  hammer  in 
one  hand,  and  in  the  other  she  held  the  corners 
of  her  apron,  which  she  had  drawn  together  so 
as  to  keep  what  was  in  it  from  falling. 

"  Joanna,"  said  Lucy,  "  may  I  come  in  here  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Joanna,  "  provided  you  will  not 
interrupt  me." 

"  Provided  ? "  said  Lucy ;  "  what  does  pro- 
vided mean  ? " 

"  Provided  ?  —  why,  If —  If  you  won't  inter- 
rupt me." 

"  Then  why  don't  you  say  If?  "  said  Lucy ; 
"  it  is  a  great  deal  easier  word." 

"  I  can't  tell  you  now,  child,"  said  Joanna. 
"  I  am  busy.     I  want  to  write." 

"  I  wish  you  would  just  tell  me  why  you  don't 
say  If9  said  Lucy,  in  a  low  and  timid  voice. 

Joanna  did  not  answer ;  and  so  Lucy  dropped 
the  corners  of  her  apron,  and  let  all  the  things 
that  were  in  it  fall  down  upon  the  floor.  They 
made  a  loud,  rattling  noise.  Lucy  then  sat  down 
by  the  side  of  them 


24 


"  You  see,  Joanna,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  am  going 
to  make  a  table." 

"  Very  well ;  make  what  you  like,  —  only  don't 
disturb  me,"  replied  Joanna. 

Lucy  then  began  to  look  over  the  things  which 
she  had  thrown  down  upon  the  floor.  There 
were  several  little  blocks  of  wood,  some  long,  and 
some  square  and  thin.  There  was  also  a  small, 
round,  wooden  box,  with  a  cover.  Lucy  took 
off  the  cover.  The  box  was  full  of  nails  ;  some 
were  small  carpet  nails ;  and  others  were  long, 
but  pointed  at  the  end,  so  that  they  would  drive 
easily. 

Lucy  also  had  a  little  awl,  with  a  straight  but 
sharp  point.  Royal  made  it  for  her.  With  this 
she  could  make  small  holes  in  the  wood,  wher- 
ever she  wanted  to  drive  a  nail. 

"  Joanna,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  wish  you  would  just 
tell  me  how  many  legs  I  must  have  to  my  table." 

"  Four,"  said  Joanna,  —  "  only  you  must  not 
keep  talking  to  me.     I  can't  possibly  write." 

"  Why,  Joanna,  Miss  Anne  can  write,  even  il 
I  do  talk  to  her." 

"  Very  likely,"  said  Joanna  ;  "  but  Miss  Anne 
and  I  are  different.  She  can  do  a  great  many 
things  that  I  cannot.  At  any  rate,  I  can't  write 
while  you  keep  talking  to  me  ;  so,  if  you  wan  i  to 


Joanna's  room.  25 

atay  nere,  you  must  amuse  yourself,  and  not  speak 
to  me  at  all." 

"Why,  suppose  it  is  some  very  particular 
word,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  if  it  is  something  very  special  and  im- 
portant," said  Joanna,  "  I  suppose  you  must 
speak  ;  but  not  otherwise." 

After  this,  Lucy  was  very  still  for  five  minutes. 
She  took  a  thin,  flat  block  for  the  top  of  her 
table,  and  counted  out  four  nails  for  the  legs. 
She  then  made  holes,  with  her  awl,  in  the  corners 
of  the  block,  and  drove  the  nails  in.  She,  how- 
ever, got  one  in  the  wrong  place,  and  when  she 
tried  to  draw  it  out  with  the  little  claw  which  was 
m  the  end  of  the  handle  of  the  hammer,  she  found 
that  she  could  not.     It  was  driven  in  too  far. 

At  length  she  laid  down  the  hammer  and  he 
block,  and  said,  with  a  sigh, 

"  O  dear  me !  " 

After  waiting  a  few  minutes,  not  knowing  what 
to  do,  she  took  up  her  table  and  hammer,  and 
went  towards  Joanna,  slowly  and  timidly,  be- 
cause she  was  unwilling  to  interrupt  her  writing 
again  ;  but  she  did  not  know  what  she  should  do. 
unless  Joanna  would  draw  out  the  nail  for  her. 

When  Lucy  came  up  to  Joanna's  table,  Joan 
3 


26  LUCY  S    STORIES. 

na  laid  down  her  pen,  and  sighed,  just  as  Lucy 
had  done,  and  said,  in  exactly  the  same  tone, 

"  O  dear  me  !  " 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Joanna  ?  "  said  Lucy 

"  Why,  I  can't  write.  I  want  to  finish  my 
letter,  so  as  to  go  out  and  take  a  walk ;  and  I  can  i 
get  along,  because  here  is  a  little  girl,  who  keeps 
interrupting  me  all  the  time." 

"  Well,  Joanna,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  only  want  to 
have  you  get  this  nail  out  for  me.  You  said  I 
might  speak  to  you,  if  it  was  especial." 

Joanna  took  the  hammer  and  the  little  table 
out  of  Lucy's  hand,  saying,  at  the  same  time, 

"  I  wish,  Lucy,  you  would  go  out  into  the 
kitchen,  until  I  have  finished  my  letter." 

"  Why,  Joanna,"  said  Lucy,  "  there  is  not  any 
body  out  in  the  kitchen  to  take  care  of  me." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Joanna,  "  I  will  make  a 
bargain  with  you.  As  soon  as  I  have  finished 
my  letter,  I  am  going  out  to  take  a  walk,  to  get 
some  broom-stuff.  Now,  if  you  will  be  perfectly 
still,  and  not  speak  to  me  once,  I  will  ask  your 
mother  to  let  you  go  with  me." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  very  much  pleased. 

"  And  I  will  get  you  four  flowers  "  said  Jo 
anna.     "  But  if  you  speak  to  me  once  while  I  am 


Joanna's  rogu.  27 

writing,  1  shall  only  get  you  three  flowers ,  and 
so  every  time  you  speak  you  must  lose  one  flower. 
And  if  you  speak  more  than  four  times,  then  1 
shall  not  ask  your  mother  to  let  you  go." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  shall  not  speak  once ; 
you  may  depend." 

"  We  shall  see,"  said  Joanna.  "  I  will  draw 
out  this  nail,  and  then  you  may  go  and  sit  down ; 
and  when  we  are  ready,  I  shall  say,  One,  two, 
three,  and  begin." 

So  Joanna  drew  out  the  nail,  then  put  the  little 
table,  and  the  hammer,  and  the  nail,  back  into 
Lucy's  hands;  and  Lucy  went  back  and  took 
her  seat  upon  the  floor.  When  she  was  fairly 
seated  at  her  work,  Joanna  said,  in  a  very  deliber- 
ate voice, 

"  One  —  two  —  three  —  and  begin." 

"  O  Joanna,"  said  Lucy,  "  there  is  just  one 
thing  before  we  begin  that  I  want  to  know ;  and 
that  is,  what  broom-stuff  is." 

"  There  goes  one  of  your  flowers,"  said  Joanna, 

"  Why,  Joanna,  I  was  not  ready  to  begin 
then,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  complaining  tone. 

"  There  goes  another." 

Lucy  was  a  little  vexed  to  find  that  Joanna 
would  not  answer  her  in  any  way,  except  telling 
her  that  she  was  losing  her  flowers,  and  so  sh* 


28 


was  silent.  Piesently  she  began  to  reflect  that 
the  agreement  had  been  fairly  made,  and  that, 
after  Joanna  had  given  the  signal  for  beginning, 
she  ought  not  to  have  spoken.  Still  she  wanted, 
very  much,  to  know  what  broom-stuff  was.  After 
thinking  of  it  a  moment,  she  concluded  to  wait, 
and  ask  Joanna  when  they  were  taking  the  walk ; 
and  then  she  resolutely  determined  that  she  would 
not  speak  a  single  word  again,  on  any  account 
whatever. 

And  she  did  not  speak  for  some  time.  But 
when,  at  length,  she  got  her  table  finished,  she  was 
so  much  pleased  to  see  how  well  it  would  stand, 
that  she  wanted  very  much  to  ask  Joanna  to  look 
at  it.  She  would  not  do  it,  however,  as  she  knew 
she  should  lose  another  of  her  flowers.  So  she 
sat  still,  waiting,  and  wishing  that  Joanna  would 
come  to  the  end  of  her  letter. 

At  length  she  got  up  softly,  and  took  her  table 
in  her  hand,  thinking  that  she  would  go  and  carry 
it  to  Joanna,  and  just  hold  it  up  before  her,  and 
let  her  see  it,  without,  however,  speaking  a  word. 

This  was  wrong ;  for  Lucy  ought  to  have 
known  that  holding  up  the  table  before  Joanna, 
so  as  to  call  her  attention  to  it,  would  be  taking 
her  attention  off  from  her  writing,  and  so  would 
interrupt  her  as  effectually  as  if  she  were  to  speak 


29 


to  her  in  a  loud  voice.  It  is  not  so  much  the 
sound  that  is  made  by  the  voice,  which  interrupts 
a  person  who  is  busy,  as  the  influence  of  what  a 
said,  upon  the  mind,  in  attracting  the  attention ; 
so  that  a  loud  noise  of  a  carriage  going  by,  or  of 
winds  and  storms  beating  against  the  windows, 
would  not  interrupt  a  person  as  much  as  a  ques- 
tion asked  in  the  lowest  whisper,  or  even  an  object, 
like  Lucy's  table,  held  up  for  a  person  to  see. 

When  Lucy  came  up  to  Joanna  with  her  table, 
Joanna  went  on  with  her  writing,  and  took  no 
notice  of  it.  Lucy  then  held  it  a  little  nearer. 
Joanna  knew  that  she  was  there,  but  she  went 
on  writing,  without  looking  up  or  saying  a  word. 
Lucy  waited  a  minute  or  two  longer,  and  then 
she  could  no  longer  resist  the  temptation  to  say, 
as  she  did  in  a  very  low  and  gentle  voice, 

"  Look,  Joanna ! " 

Joanna  raised  her  eyes  from  her  work,  and 
looked  not  at  the  table,  but  at  Lucy  herself,  and 
said, 

"  There  goes  another  of  your  flowers :  now 
there  is  but  one  left." 

Lucy  turned  away  in  silence,  and  went  back 
to  her  place.  She  was  very  sorry  that  she  had 
lost  so  many  of  her  flowers ;  and  she  secretly 
thought  that  Joanna  was  very   strict;   but   shy 


30  LUCY  S    STORXilS. 

knew  that  if  she  made  any  remonstrance  or  com- 
plaint, she  should  lose  the  last  flower  too. 

After  sitting  upon  the  floor  a  few  minutes 
longer,  she  concluded  that  she  would  go  and  put 
her  blocks  and  other  things  away,  and  get  ready 
to  go  and  take  the  walk,  —  so  as  not  to  lose 
any  time  when  Joanna's  letter  should  be  finished. 
This  was  a  very  wise  plan  ;  for,  by  going  out  of 
the  room,  she  made  sure  of  not  interrupting  Jo- 
anna again. 

So  Lucy  went  and  put  her  blocks  and  hammer 
away  in  her  treasury,  and  then  went  to  find  her 
mother,  in  order  to  ask  her  if  she  might  go  and 
take  a  walk  with  Joanna.  She  could  not  find 
her  mother;  but  she  found  Miss  Anne,  who 
told  her  that  her  mother  had  gone  out  to  walk, 
and  would  not  come  back  until  tea-time. 

Then  Lucy  told  Miss  Anne  of  Joanna's  pro- 
posal to  take  her  out  to  walk  with  her,  and  she 
isked  Miss  Anne  if  she  might  go. 

"  I  rather  think,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  Jo- 
anna would  prefer  to  go  alone.  You  asked  her 
first  to  let  you  go  with  her,  didn't  you  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  she  proposed  it  herself. 
She  said  that  if  1  would  not  speak  to  her,  a  word, 
till  she  had  finished  her  letter,  she  would  le; 
me  go." 


31 


u  And  did  not  you  speak  to  her  ? "  said  Miss 
Anne. 

"  Yes  ;  but  she  said,"  added  Lucy,  "  that  if  1 
did  not  speak  but  four  times,  I  might  go,  but  then 
1  must  not  have  any  flowers." 

Miss  Anne  did  not  understand  this  explana- 
tion very  well ;  but  then  she  did  not  care  much 
whether  she  understood  it  or  not.  She  was  busy, 
reading ;  and  all  that  she  wanted,  was  to  be  sure 
that  Joanna  was  really  willing  to  have  Lucy  go 
with  her.  For  as  Joanna  was  going  out  to  walk, 
to  refresh  and  enjoy  herself,  after  her  work,  she 
thought  that  it  would  not  be  right  for  Lucy  to 
go  as  her  companion,  unless  Joanna  was  really 
willing. 

So  Miss  Anne  said,  in  reply  to  Lucy's  request, 

"  You  may  go  back  and  wait  until  Joanna  is 
ready.  I  cannot  let  you  go,  merely  because  you 
ask  it ;  but  if  she  asks  it  herself,  or  sends  you  to 
ask  it,  then  I  will  consider  whether  I  will  take 
the  responsibility  of  letting  you  go." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  responsibility  1 "  sale- 
Lucy. 

"  Why,  when  your  mother  went  out,"  said 
Miss  Anne,  "  she  did  not  give  me  any  authority 
to  let  you  go  and  take  a  walk.  Now,  if  I  should 
let  you  go,  in  such  a  case,  because  I  suppose  the 


32 


would  consent  if  she  were  here,  it  would  be  ta- 
king responsibility.  I  should  be  responsible  to 
her  if  she  should  ask  me  about  it.  I  ought  to  have 
good  reasons  to  give  her,  why  I  let  you  go." 

"  I  don't  understand  it  very  well,"  said  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  laughing,  "  and  I  don't 
olame  you  very  much,  for  1  don't  think  that  I 
explain  it  very  well.  But  never  mind  now.  I 
hear  Joanna,  I  believe,  in  the  kitchen  ;  and  I  ex- 
pect that  she  has  finished  her  letter,  and  is  getting 
ready  to  go." 

*  Lucy  ran  off  with  all  speed,  to  see  if  Joanna 
was  really  ready  to  go.  She-  found  that  she  had 
finished  her  letter,  and  was  putting  on  her  bonnet. 
Lucy  told  Joanna  what  Miss  Anne  had  said,  and 
Joanna  sent  her  back  to  say  that  she  should 
really  like  to  have  her  go  with  her.  Accordingly 
Miss  Anne  took  the  responsibility  of  giving  her 
permission. 

When  Lucy  got  back,  she  found  Joanna  sharp- 
ening a  knife  upon  a  stone,  which  was  placed 
apon  a  shelf  in  the  back  kitchen,  for  that  purpose 

"  What  is  that  knife  for  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  to  get  my  broom-stuff"  with,"  said 
Foanna. 

"  O  yes,"  said  Lucy ;  "  and  now  you  must  tell 
ne  what  broom-stuff  is." 


Joanna's  room.  33 

"  Why,  broom-stuff,  child,"  said  Joanna,  "  is 
the  stuff  that  they  make  brooms  of." 

Joanna  went  on  sharpening  her  knife,  and 
Lucy  was  silent.  Presently,  when  Joanna  had 
made  the  knife  as  sharp  as  she  wished,  she  looked 
round,  and  saw  that  Lucy  was  leaning  forward, 
and  looking  very  intently  at  a  broom  which  was 
hanging  near  her,  against  the  wall. 

"  O,  not  such  broom-stuff  as  that,"  said  Joanna. 
"  I  am  going  to  make  a  hemlock  broom." 

" A  hemlock  broom  ?  "  inquired  Lucy.  "  Is 
a  hemlock  broom  better  than  such  a  broom  as 
this?" 

"  O,  I  don't  know,"  said  Joanna.  "  A  hem 
lock  broom  is  such  a  one  as  the  farmers  make, 
who  live  in  the  woods.  I  have  not  seen  one  for 
a  long  time,  but  I  used  to  make  them  when  I 
was  a  little  girl,  and  I  want  to  make  one  now, 
if  it  is  only  to  make  me  think  of  old  times.  So 
[  am  sharpening  my  knife  to  cut  the  hemlock 
branches." 

"  I  should  think  that  Royal's  hatchet  would  be 
better,"  said  Lucy. 

"If  he  would  go  with  us  to  cut  down  die 
branches,"  answered  Joanna. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  will  go  and  see  if  I 
can  find  him." 


34 


But  Lucy  could  not  find  him;  -md  so  she 
and  Joanna  had  to  go  alone.  Joanna  earned 
her  knife  in  one  hand,  and  led  Lucy  with  th* 
other. 

They  walked  along  through  the  garden,  and 
thence  out  through  a  back  gate,  which  led  into 
the  lane.  This  led  down  into  the  glen,  behind 
the  house.  They  crossed  the  brook  where  Royal 
had  made  the  pen  to  confine  his  turtle,  as  de- 
scribed in  Lucy's  Conversations. 

After  passing  this  brook,  they  followed  a  wind- 
ing path  which  led  along  among  rocks  and  trees, 
until  they  came  to  a  dense  thicket,  where  Joanna 
said  she  had  observed  that  there  was  plenty  of 
hemlock  trees.  Lucy  could  not  tell  the  hemlock 
trees  from  a  great  many  others  which  looked 
somewhat  like  them. 

Joanna  cut  off  a  great  many  small  branches, 
and  threw  them  down  upon  the  grass  as  fast  as 
she  cut  them.  Lucy  gathered  them  up  as  fast 
as  they  were  cut,  and  put  them  by  themselves, 
taking  care  to  put  the  stems  all  one  way.  Jo- 
anna told  her  that  she  would  cut  some  small 
branches  for  her,  so  that  she  could  make  a  little 
broom  for  herself,  when  she  went  home,  —  if  she 
could   only  get   Royal  to   make   her  a   handle 


JOANNA'S    ROOM. 


35 


They  staid  in  this  place  nearly  half  an  hour,  and 
then  they  went  home. 

As  they  were  going  home,  Lucy  called  upon 
Joanna  to  get  her  her  flower;  but  Joanna  said 
that  she  was  tired  of  rambling  about,  and  she 
asked  Lucy  if  she  should  not  be  willing  to  take  a 
story,  instead  of  a  flower.  Lucy  said  that  she 
should  ;  and,  accordingly,  Joanna  told  her  the  story 
of  the  Fog  upon  the  Mountains,  as  they  walked 
siowly  homewards.  This  story,  though  not  in 
precisely  the  language  in  which  Joanna  related  it 
is  given  in  the  next  chapter. 


36 


CHAPTER    III 
STORY   OF   THE  FOG  ON  THE    MOUNTAINS. 

There  was  once  a  girl  named  Mary,  whc 
lived  with  her  father  and  mother,  in  a  farm-house 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountains.  When  she  was 
about  eight  years  old,  her  mother  taught  her  U 
milk,  and  she  was  very  much  pleased  with  this 
attainment. 

Her  father  made  her  a  little  milking  stool  with 
three  legs  and  a  handle,  which  she  used  to  keep 
upon  the  barn  yard  fence,  by  the  side  of  her 
mother's  larger  milking  stool ;  and  every  morning 
and  evening  she  went  out,  and  while  her  mother 
was  milking  the  two  other  cows,  she  would  milk 
the  one  which  she  called  hers.  Her  cow's  name 
was  May-day. 

One  night  May-day  did  not  come  home  with 
the  other  cows;  but  Mary's  mother  said  that  she 
thought  she  would  be  in  the  lane  at  the  bars  the 
next  morning.  But  on  the  next  morning  no 
May-day  was  to  be  seen ;  and  Mary  asked  tier 
mother  to  let  her  set  off  after  breakfast,  and  go  up 


FOG    ON    THE    MOUNTAINS.  37 

the  mountain  and  find  her.  For  the  pasture 
where  the  cows  fed,  extended  some  distance  up 
tne  sides  of  one  of  the  mountains.  Her  mothei 
consented,  and  Mary  put  some  bread  and  cheese 
in  a  little  basket  for  luncheon,  and  bade  her  moth- 
er good  morning,  and  went  away.  She  crepl 
through  the  bars  which  led  to  the  lane,  and  then 
followed  the  path,  until  she  disappeared  fi-om 
view  among  the  trees  and  bushes. 

After  a  short  time,  she  came  to  a  brook.  The 
path  led  across  the  brook ;  there  was  a  log  across 
it  for  Mary  to  walk  on.  She  stopped  upon  the 
middle  of  the  log  to  look  down  into  the  water. 
The  bed  of  the  brook  was  filled  with  stones, 
which  were  all  covered  with  green  moss,  and  the 
water,  in  flowing  along,  seemed  to  be  meandering 
among  tufts  of  moss.     It  was  very  beautiful. 

Mary  determined  to  come  some  day  and  get 
some  moss  from  these  stones,  and  make  a  moss 
seat  near  the  house,  to  sit  upon ;  and  then  she 
reflected  that  she  ought  not  to  stop  any  longer 
looking  at  the  brook,  but  that  she  must  go  on  in 
search  of  her  cow.  So  she  walked  along  to  the 
end  of  the  log,  and  then  stepped  off,  and  followed 
the  path  which  led  through  the  woods,  gently  as- 
cending. 

[n  about  half  an  hour,  Mary  came  out  into  an 
4 


38 


opening ;  that  is,  to  a  place  whare  the  trees  had 
been  cleared  away,  and  grass  had  grown  up  all 
over  the  ground.  There  were  several  clumps  of 
trees  growing  here  and  there,  and  a  good  many 
raspberry  bushes,  with  ripe  raspberries,  upon  them. 
Maiy  thought  that,  after  she  had  found  the  cow. 
she  would  gather  some  of  the  raspberries,  and  eat 
them  with  her  luncheon.  So  she  went  on  to  the 
top  of  a  little  hill,  or  swell  of  land,  which  was  in 
the  middle  of  the  opening,  and  looked  around. 

The  cow  was  no  where  to  be  seen.  The 
opening  was  bounded  by  woods,  in  every  direc- 
tion. On  one  side,  these  woods  extended  fai 
back  among  glens  and  valleys,  and  up  the  sides  of 
the  mountains.  On  the  other,  Mary  could  see 
over  the  tops  of  the  forest  trees,  away  to  her  fa- 
ther's house,  which  was  far  below  her,  down  the 
valley.  She  could  distinguish  the  house  and  the 
barn,  and  the  long  shed  between  them  ;  and  pres- 
ently she  noticed  something  moving  in  the  barr 
yard,  and  by  close  attention  she  made  it  out  to  r»e 
her  father  with  the  cart  and  oxen  going  off  to  the 
field. 

There  was,  however,  a  kind  of  mist  slowly 
creeping  up  the  valley,  which  soon  began  to  hide 
this  group  of  buildings  from  Maiy's  view.  It 
was  one  of  those  mornings  in  autumn  when  a  fog 


FOG    ON    THE    MOUNTAINS.  39 

hangs  over  the  rivers  and  brooks,  and  creeps  along 
the  valleys,  and  at  length,  as  the  morning  advances, 
it  rises  and  spreads  until  the  whole  country  is 
covered ;  and  then  it  breaks  away,  and  floats  off 
in  clouds,  and  is  gradually  dissipated  by  the  sun. 
The  fog  was  rising  in  this  way  now,  and  Mary 
watched  it  for  a  few  minutes,  as  it  moved  slowly 
on.  First  the  barn  yard  fence  disappeared  ;  then 
the  shed ;  then  the  house,  all  but  the  chimneys , 
then  the  barn ;  and  finally  nothing  but  a  great 
white  cloud  could  be  seen  covering  the  whole.  As 
Mary  looked  around  her,  she  saw  similar  fog  banks 
lying  in  long,  waving  lines  over  the  courses  of  the 
streams,  or  spreading  slowly  through  the  \*alleys. 

She  took  one  more  look  in  every  direction,  all 
around  the  opening,  for  the  cow ;  and  then  she 
concluded  that  she  would  eat  her  luncheon,  before 
she  went  any  farther.  There  were  two  reasons 
for  this ;  she  began  to  feel  hungry,  —  and  then 
she  was  tired  of  carrying  her  basket.  So  she 
lightened  her  basket  by  eating  up  the  bread  and 
cheese,  and  then  rambled  around  among  the 
raspberry  bushes  for  some  minutes,  eating  rasp- 
oerries. 

When,  at  length,  Mary  came  out  from  among 
the  bushes,  she  was  astonished  to  find  that  the 
whole  country  all  around  the  little  hill,  that  she 


w»»»»»wmj>»» 


40  lucy's  stories. 

was  standing  upon,  was  covered  with  fog.  Ii 
iookod  like  a  sea,  or  rather  like  r  great  lake  sur- 
rounded by  mountains  in  the  distance,  and  spot- 
ted with  islands,  which  were,  in  fact,  the  summits 
of  the  nearer  hills,  which  rose  above  the  surface 
of  the  vapor. 

Although  Mary  could  still  thus  see  a  great  deal 
of  land,  yet  it  looked  so  strange  to  her,  that  she 
could  not  recognize  any  of  it.  The  hills  were 
her  old  familiar  friends,  but  she  did  not  know 
them  under  the  disguise  of  islands  and  promon- 
tories in  a  lake.     She  did  not  know  what  to  do. 

She  concluded,  however,  pretty  soon,  that  she 
would  ramble  about  a  little  while,  looking  for  the 
cow,  but  not  far  away  from  the  hill,  and  then, 
when  the  fog  should  clear  off,  she  could  see 
which  way  to  go.  So  she  came  down  the  hill, 
and  began  to  walk  about  the  opening,  and  in  the 
edge  of  the  woods ;  but  no  cow  was  to  be  seen. 

At  one  time,  when  she  had  got  into  the  woods 
a,  little  farther  than  usual,  following  a  little  path 
which  led  along  a  green  bank  under  some  tall 
maples,  she  observed  a  gray  squirrel,  running,  or 
rather  gliding,  along  a  log,  with  his  plume  of  a 
tail  curved  gracefully  over  his  back.  From  the 
end  of  the  log  he  passed  through  the  air,  with  a 
very  graceful  leap,  to  the  extremity  of  a  low  limb 


FOG    ON    THE    MOUNTAINS.  41 

hanging  down  from  a  great  hemlock  tree.  The 
limb  bent  down  with  his  weight  almost  to  the 
giound.  He  ran  up  the  limb  to  the  body  of  the 
tree,  and  then  up  the  tree  half  way  to  the  top, 
where  he  ran  out  to  the  extremity  of  a  long 
branch ;  and  then  leaped  across,  at  a  great  height, 
into  the  top  of  a  maple  which  grew  at  a  little  dis- 
tance. Mary  was  delighted  with  the  beautiful 
form  and  graceful  motions  of  the  squirrel,  and  she 
followed  him  along,  until  at  last  he  ran  into  a  hole 
in  the  side  of  a  monstrous  tree.  It  was  rather  the 
trunk  of  a  tree,  —  for  it  was  so  old  that  the  top 
had  long  since  fallen  away,  and  left  the  trunk 
alone  standing,  —  old,  shaggy,  and  hollow.  His 
nest  was  there. 

Mary  waited  a  few  minutes  to  see  if  he  would 
come  out ;  but  he  did  not.  Just  at  this  time  she 
began  to  observe  that  it  was  somewhat  misty 
around  her,  in  the  woods.  She  then  thought 
that  the  fog  must  have  been  rising  and  spreading 
until  it  had  reached  the  place  where  she  was; 
and  she  began  to  be  afraid  that  she  should  not  be 
able  to  see  across  the  opening,  so  as  to  find  hei 
way  back  to  the  hill,  in  the  middle  of  it.  She 
immediately  attempted  to  go  back  to  the  open- 
ing, but  she  could  not  find  her  way.  She  soon 
became  bewildered  and  lost;  and  the  more  sha 
4* 


42  lucy's  stories. 

wandered  about,  the  more  she  seemed  to  get  en 
tangled  in  the  woods. 

Mary  did  not  know  what  to  do.  She  sat  down 
upon  a  large  stone,  and  began  to  feel  very  anxious 
and  unhappy.  She  thought  that,  if  the  sun  would 
only  shine,  she  could  tell  which  way  to  go ;  for 
she  had  often  observed,  when  she  was  coming  up 
into  the  pasture  in  the  morning,  that  she  was 
coming  away  from  the  sun ;  and  when  she  went 
back,  it  shone  in  her  face.  So  she  knew  that  if 
she  could  see  the  sun,  and  go  towards  it,  she 
would  soon  come  down  near  to  her  father's  house. 

She  sat  here  for  some  time,  but  the  fog  seemed 
to  grow  thicker  and  thicker.  As  she  was  musing 
upon  her  lonely  and  somewhat  dangerous  situa- 
tion, she  heard  a  rustling  in  a  thicket  pretty  neai 
her.  At  first  she  thought  it  was  a  bear;  and 
she  was  alarmed.  Then  she  reflected  that  her 
father  had  told  her  there  were  no  bears  in  his 
pasture,  and  she  concluded  that  she  would  go 
cautiously  and  see  what  it  was. 

So  she  crept  along  softly,  and  presently  began 
to  get  glimpses  through  the  thicket.  The  bushes 
moved  more  and  more.  There  was  something 
red  there ;  it  was  a  cow.  A  moment  afterwards, 
she  came  into  full  view  of  it ;  and  behold  it  was 
Diav-day  ! 


FOG    ON    THE    MOUNTAINS.  43 

Mary  was  rejoiced,  but  she  could  not  think 
what  May-day  was  doing  there ;  she  seemed  to 
be  hooking  the  bushes.  Mary  took  up  a  stick, 
and  attempted  to  drive  her  out ;  but  May-day  did 
not  move  from  her  place,  —  she  only  stepped 
about  a  little,  and  hooked  the  bushes  more  than 
ever.  This  was  very  mysterious;  and  Mary 
came  up  nearer,  and  looked  very  earnestly  to  dis- 
cover what  it  could  mean.  At  length  the  mys- 
tery was  unravelled.  The  cow  was  caught  by 
the  horns  in  the  thicket,  and  could  not  get  away. 
Somehow  or  other,  in  rubbing  her  head  upon  the 
trunk  of  a  tree,  she  had  got  her  horns  locked  in  a 
sort  of  tangle  of  branches  which  grew  there,  and 
she  could  not  get  them  out  again. 

At  first,  Mary  did  not  see  that  she  could  do  any 
thing  herself  to  help  the  poor  cow  out  of  her 
difficulty,  except  to  find  her  own  way  out  of  the 
woods  as  soon  as  possible,  and  get  her  father  to 
come  and  release  her.  On  more  mature  reflec 
tion,  however,  it  seemed  to  her  that  it  would  be 
an  excellent  thing  if  she  could  get  the  cow  free ; 
for  probably  the  cow  would  know  the  way  home, 
and  so  she  could  herself  find  the  way  by  just 
following  her.  She  accordingly  went  nearer,  m 
order   to  examine   the   branches,  by   which   the 


44  lucy's  stories. 

horns  had  been  entangled,  more  closely,  so  as  to 
see  if  she  could  not  do  something  to  help  the 
cow  to  extricate  herself. 

She  found  that  the  horns  had  got  caught  in 
such  a  way,  that  if  the  cow  would  move  her 
head  sideways,  she  could  get  it  out,  —  though 
she  could  not  get  it  out  by  moving  it  backwards 
or  forwards,  nor  by  working  it  up  and  down.  So 
she  determined  to  tiy  to  make  the  cow  move 
sideways.  First,  however,  she  took  hold  of  the 
end  of  one  long  branch,  which  helped  to  confine 
the  horns,  and  pulled  it  away  as  far  as  she  could : 
and  then  she  contrived  to  get  this  end  around  behinc* 
another  tree,  so  as  to  prevent  its  springing  back 
This  made  it  easier  for  the  cow  to  get  out.  Then 
she  got  a  stick,  and  came  around  to  the  side  of  the 
cow,  and  tried  to  drive  her.  The  cow  pulled,  and 
pushed,  and  staggered  around  this  way  and  that, 
—  every  way,  in  fact,  but  the  right  way.  Mary 
perceived,  however,  that  her  horns  were  gradually 
working  along  between  the  limbs,  towards  the 
place  where  they  could  get  free.  So  she  perse- 
vered. At  length  one  horn  slipped  out,  and  the 
other  followed  immediately  after;  and  the  cow, 
partly  through  her  joy  at  being  released  from  her 
confinement,  and  partly   from  fear  of  the   great 


FOG    ON    THE    MOUNTAINS.  47 

stick  which  Mary  had  been  brandishing  against 
her,  wheeled  around,  and  gallopped  out  of  the 
thicket,  tossing  her  homs  and  whisking  her  tail. 

Mary  walked  along  after  her,  in  hopes  that  she 
would  at  once  take  the  road  which  would  lead 
home.  The  cow  walked  steadily  on,  and  Mary 
soon  perceived  that  there  was  something  like  a 
path  where  she  was  going.  It  led  sometimes 
over  grass  ground,  and  sometimes  through  trees 
and  bushes ;  but  it  all  looked  strange  to  Mary, 
and  the  fog  was  so  thick  that  she  could  see 
but  a  very  short  distance  on  each  side  of  her. 
Once  the  path  which  the  cow  was  taking  led 
through  a  low,  wet  place  in  the  woods,  which 
/ooked  very  muddy.  But  Mary  did  not  dare  to 
stop ;  for  she  did  not  know  what  she  should  do 
to  find  her  way  out,  if  she  should  lose  sight  of 
the  cow.  So  she  pulled  off  her  stockings  and 
shoes  as  quick  as  possible,  in  order  to  keep  them 
clean  and  dry,  and  then  followed  on,  running 
along  upon  the  mossy  logs,  and  leaping  from 
stump  to  stone.  She  got  safely  over;  but  she 
had  not  time  to  put  on  her  stockings  and  snoes 
again,  for  fear  of  losing  the  track  of  the  cow, 
and  so  she  went  on  barefoot. 

She  proceeded  in  this  way  for  some  time, 
until,  at  length,  suddenly  the  cow  came  out  into  a 


48 


wider  and  better  path ;  and  in  a  minute  or  two 
after,  she  came  up  to  a  pair  of  bars,  and  stopped 
Mary  could  not  think  where  she  was.  Shf 
looked  around.  She  could  perceive  the  dim  form 
of  some  great  square  building  at  a  little  distance, 
just  distinguishable  through  the  fog.  She  climbed 
up  upon  the  fence,  to  look  at  it  more  distinctly. 
It  was  her  father's  barn ;  and  the  house  was  close 
by.  In  a  word,  the  cow  had  conducted  her  safely 
home.  Mary  could  excel  her  altogether  in  con- 
triving a  way  to  get  her  horns  disentangled  from 
the  branches  of  a  tree ;  but  she  could  beat  Mary 
in  finding  her  way  out  of  the  woods  in  a  fog.  In 
fact,  Mary  found  that,  though  she  was  a  very  pool 
contriver,  she  was  a  very  good  guide. 


MART     JAY.  49 

CHAPTER    IV. 

MARY  JAY. 

Lucy  went  to  a  kind  of  a  school,  when  she  was 
about  five  years  old.  It  was  a  family  school ; 
that  is,  a  school  for  the  children  of  one  family, 
though  several  other  children  went  to  it.  There 
was  no  large  school  near  where  Lucy  lived,  be- 
cause there  were  not  children  enough.  And  so 
one  of  the  families  that  lived  near  there  employed 
a  teacher  to  come  and  teach  a  few  children. 
The  school-room  was  a  little  back  room,  up  stairs, 
over  the  gardener's  room. 

Lucy  had  no  school  to  go  to ;  and,  as  she  had 
the  character  of  being  a  very  still,  gentle,  and 
obedient  girl,  the  lady  and  gentleman  who  had 
established  the  family  school  said  that  she  might 
come  and  be  taught  with  their  children.  Lucy 
was  glad,  for  she  wanted  to  go  to  school. 

One  of  the  scholars  came  to  call  for  her  the 
first  day,  to  show  her  the  way.  It  was  a  pleas- 
ant snmmei  morning,  and  the  birds  were  singing 
in  the  trees. 

5 


50  lucf's    STORICS. 

The  girl  that  came  for  Lucy  appeared  to  be  a 
year  or  two  older  than  Lucy.  She  came  in,  and 
sat  still  in  the  parlor  while  she  was  waiting  ft* 
Lucy  to  get  ready.  Lucy's  mother  spoke  to  *iei 
several  times,  but  she  did  not  answer  much.  She 
seemed  to  be  afraid. 

Presently,  when  Lucy  was  ready,  they  went 
out  of  the  door  together.  Lucy  had  her  bag  in 
her  hand,  with  an  apple  and  a  book  in  it.  The 
other  girl  had  a  bag  too.  She  opened  the  gate 
to  let  Lucy  go  out,  and  then  shut  it  after  her. 
Lucy's  mother  stood  at  the  door,  and  bade  them 
good  morning. 

The  two  children  took  hold  of  each  other's 
hands,  and  walked  along  for  some  minutes,  with- 
out speaking  a  word.     At  length  Lucy's  com 
panion  said  to  her,  timidly, 

"  Isn't  your  name  Lucy  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy. 

They  walked  along  a  little  farther  without 
speaking,  when  Lucy  said,  with  a  hesitating  voice 

"  I  don't  know  what  your  name  is." 

"My  name  is  Marielle,"  said  the   other  girl 

"  Why,  what  a  funny  name !  "  said  Lucy 
"  I  never  heard  of  any  body  named  Marielle." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Marielle ;  "  and  my  name 


MART    JAY.  51 

was  xWary  at  first,  but  now  they  always  call  me 
Marielle." 

"  What  for  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"Why,  you  see,"  said  Marielle,  "that  my 
mother's  name  is  Mary,  too ;  and  so  my  father 
and  my  uncle  William  always  called  her  Mary, 
and  they  called  me  little  Mary,  to  distinguish. 
And  I  did  not  like  to  be  called  little  Mary,  and 
[  told  my  father  so." 

"  And  then  did  he  change  your  name  to  Ma- 
rielle?" said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle.  "  He  told  mother  that 
ella  or  elle,  was  a  kind  of  an  ending  that  meant 
little ;  and  so  they  called  me  Mariella,  and  now 
generally  they  call  me  Marielle." 

"  I  think  your  name  is  a  very  pretty  name," 
said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle.  "  I  like  it  a  great  deal 
better  than  little  Mary ;  but  I  don't  like  it  per- 
fectly well,  for  it  means  little,  after  all." 

The  children  walked  along  by  a  foot  path  at 
the  side  of  the  road  for  some  minutes  after  this, 
until  at  length  they  came  to  a  stone  wall,  pretty 
tight  and  smooth  upon  the  outside,  and  higher 
than  the  children's  heads.  Branches  of  trees  and 
shrubbery   hung   over   the   wall   from   the    top 


52 


Marielle  said  that  their  garden  was  over  the  othei 
aide  of  that  wall. 

"  Your  garden  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Fes,"  said  Marielle  ;  "  and  that  is  where  we 
go  to  play  in  the  recesses  of  our  school." 

After  they  had  gone  a  little  farther,  Lucy 
found  that  they  were  coming  near  a  house,  which 
had  a  handsome  yard  in  front,  filled  with  trees 
and  shrubbery.  Just  before  they  reached  this 
yard,  there  was  a  sort  of  a  door,  in  the  stone 
wall,  very  near  the  end  of  it,  which  Marielle 
suddenly  opened.  She  stepped  in  herself,  and 
then  held  the  door  open  for  Lucy  to  follow. 
Lucy  went  in,  cautiously  and  timidly,  and  found 
herself  in  a  long  passage-way,  with  a  smooth 
gravel  walk  beneath  her  feet,  and  a  pretty  green 
grass  border  on  each  side.  Beyond  the  border, 
on  one  side,  was  the  paling,  or  open  fence,  which 
separated  the  passage  from  the  front  yard  of  the 
house.  On  the  other  side  was  a  kind  of  frame- 
work called  a  trellis,  which  was  covered  with 
grape-vines.     Beyond  the  trellis  was  the  garden. 

Marielle  shut  the  door,  and  latched  it,  after 
Lucy,  and  then  said, 

"  We  call  this  the  door  gate,  and  we  musl 
never  leave  it  open,  Lucy." 


Mary  jay.  53 

l^en  she  walked  along  through  the  passage- 
way, and  Lucy  followed  her.  At  the  end  of  it, 
they  came  into  a  pleasant  little  yard,  near  the  en% 
of  the  house  ;  and  they  passed  across  this  yard,  and 
thence  through  another  gate,  which  was  low,  and 
•nade  of  open  work.  They  passed  through  this 
gate,  and  then  turned  round  a  corner,  and  went 
along  a  walk  with  rose-bushes  and  snowballs  upon 
one  side,  and  flower-beds  upon  the  other,  until 
they  came  to  a  door.  This  door  was  open,  Rnd 
several  children  were  sitting  upon  the  steps,  ar- 
ranging flowers. 

Lucy  staid  here  a  few  minutes,  and  then  they 
heard  a  little  bell  ring,  and  all  the  children  began 
to  run  up  stairs.  Marielle  waited  to  go  up  with 
Lucy,  and  show  her  the  way.  When  they 
reached  the  top  of  the  stairs,  they  turned,  and 
went  into  the  school-room. 

Lucy  thought  it  was  a  very  pleasant  school- 
room ;  but  she  did  not  have  time  to  look  about 
much,  for  Marielle  led  her  directly  to  the  teach- 
er's table.  The  teacher  said  that  she  was  glad  to 
see  her,  and  asked  her  to  look  around  the  room, 
and  see  where  she  should  like  to  sit.  Lucy  looked 
about  a  little,  but  could  not  decide  very  well ;  and 
so  she  said  that  she  should  like  to  sit  with  Ma 
rielle. 


54  lucy's  stories. 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  teacher ;  "  is  there  room 
at  your  table,  Marielle  ? " 

Marielle  said  there  was  room ;  and  so  she  led 
Lucy  along  to  the  corner  where  her  seat  was. 
There  was  a  little  table  there,  and  a  chair  near  it. 
There  was  also  a  small  book -shelf  upon  the  wall, 
near,  where  Marielle  kept  her  books,  and  a  nail  by 
the  side  of  it,  where  she  hung  her  bag. 

Marielle  brought  a  small  chair  for  Lucy,  and 
put  it  by  the  side  of  her  table,  and  she  hung  her 
bag  upon  her  nail.  She  told  her,  however,  that 
in  the  recess  she  would  go  and  get  another  nail, 
and  drive  it  up  upon  Lucy's  side  of  the  book- 
shelf, so  that  Lucy  could  have  a  nail  to  herself. 

Then  Lucy  sat  down  in  her  seat,  and  began  to 
'ook  about  the  room. 

There  were  several  little  tables  and  desks  in 
various  places.  Some  were  near  the  windows, 
and  others  back  near  the  teacher's  seat,  which 
was  before  the  fireplace.  Upon  the  teacher's 
table  there  was  lying  a  large  plume,  made  of  three 
or  four  peacock's  feathers.  Marielle  told  Lucy 
that  when  that  plume  was  lying  down,  they  might 
all  talk,  but,  then,  when  the  teacher  put  it  up  in 
its  place,  at  the  end  of  the  table,  then  it  was 
study  hours,  and  they  must  not  talk  at  all. 
There  was  no  fire  in  the  fireplace,  because  it  was 


MARY    J  AT.  55 

summer ;  but  instead  of  it  there  was  a  large  bouquet 
of  flowers  and  shrubbery,  which  the  children  had 
gathered  in  the  garden,  and  placed  there,  with 
the  ends  of  the  stems  in  a  jar  of  water,  which 
stood  upon  the  hearth. 

The  school  had  not  yet  begun,  but  the  children 
were  all  busy,  getting  their  places  and  taking  out 
their  books.  They  were  talking  to  each  other 
very  busily,  but  in  low  and  gentle  tones  of  voice. 
There  were  some  boys  and  some  girls ;  but  they 
were  all  small  children,  except  one.  There  was 
one  pretty  large  girl  sitting  in  a  corner  at  t  desk  by 
herself.  One  of  the  small  children  wa  standing 
by  her  side  talking  with  her.  She  h,J  a  round, 
full  face,  though  she  looked  rather  pale ;  and  the 
expression  of  her  face,  and  of  her  beaming  blue 
eyes,  was  an  expression  of  contentment  and 
happiness. 

Lucy  asked  Marielle  who  that  great  girl  was, 
sitting  in  the  corner  ;  and  she  answered, 

"  Why,  don't  you  know  Mary  Jay  ?  That  b 
Mary  Jay.     You  see  she  is " 

Just  at  this  moment  the  little  bell  was  rung  at 
the  teacher's  table ;  and  the  teacher  put  the  plume 
up,  which  was  the  signal  for  all  the  children  to 
stop  talking,  and  attend  to  what  the  teachoi  had 
to  say.     And  so  Marielle  stopped,  and  sat  back  in 


56  lucy's  stories. 

ner  chair ;  and  Lucy  therefore  lost  the  opportu- 
nity of  hearing  what  she  was  going  to  tell  her 
about  Mary  Jay.  Lucy  determined  to  ask  her  in 
tne  recess  ;  but  she  forgot  it. 

F  „s  in  the  recess  the  girls  had  such  a  joyous 
time  running  about  the  alleys  and  walks  in  the 
garden,  that  Lucy  had  no  time  to  think  of  any 
thing  else.  There  were  several  broad  walks 
crossing  each  other  at  right  angles,  and  shaded 
in  part  by  fruit-trees,  which  overhung  them.  In 
one  part  of  the  garden  there  was  a  large  square, 
covered  with  trees  and  shrubbery,  and  grass  be- 
neath. Here  the  children  played  hide-and-go- 
seek,,  until  they  were  tired:  and  then  they  went 
into  a  kind  of  a  summer-house  at  the  farther  end 
of  it,  which  Lucy  did  not  see  for  some  time,  it 
was  so  hidden  by  foliage. 

Here  the  children  sat  down  together  and  talked 
a  little  while,  and  one  of  them  asked  why  Mary 
Jay  did  not  come.  Another  of  the  children,  who 
had  a  little  book  in  her  hand,  said  that  Mary  Jay 
was  not  coming  out  that  day,  because  she  had  a 
hard  sum  to  do.  The  children  all  seemed  to  be 
sorry.  Marielle  said  that  she  thought  she  might 
just  as  well  have  left  her  sum  till  after  recess. 

"  See  what  a  picture  she  painted  for  me !  "  said 
the  little  girl  with  a  book. 


MARY    JAY.  57 

So  saying,  she  opened  the  book,  and  took  out  a 
attle  picture,  which  she  had  placed  very  carefully 
between  the  leaves.  It  was  a  very  beautiful  pic- 
ture. There  was  a  yard  with  a  garden  fence, 
and  some  trees  hanging  over  it,  and  a  dove-house 
in  the  end  of  a  shed.  There  was  a  boy  there, 
too,  with  some  grains  in  a  little  basket,  trying  to 
call  down  the  doves,  to  feed  them.  One  was  flying 
down,  and  the  other  was  still  standing  upon  the 
shelf  in  front  of  the  dove-house,  looking  as  if  he 
was  just  ready  to  fly  down  too. 

The  heads  of  the  children  were  immediately 
crowded  together  around  the  picture,  and  they  aP 
exclaimed  that  it  was  very  beautiful. 

"  Is  there  a  story  to  it,  Jane  ?  "  said  Manelie. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  little  girl  who  had  the  picture, 
and  whose  name,  it  seems,  was  Jane.  "  Mary 
Jay  said  there  was  a  story  to  it,  but  she  could 
not  tell  it  to  me  then,  for  there  was  not  time. 
Only  that  dove's  name,"  she  added,  pointing  tc 
the  one  just  going  to  fly  down,  "  is  Bob-o'-link." 

"  Bob-o'-link ! "  exclaimed  several  voice?  at 
once,  "  what  a  name  for  a  dove  !  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Jane,  "  because  he  is  black  and 
white,  and  so  *h*t  boy  called  him  Bob-o'-link ;  fa 
a  Bob-o'-link  is  black  and  white." 

"  I  never  saw  a  Bob-o'-link,"  s*.id  Lucy. 


58 


u  And  the  other  dove's  name  is  Cooroo,"  con- 
tinued Jane. 

"My  brother  Royal  has  got  some  doves," 
laid  Lucy. 

'■'  Has  he  ?  "  said  Jane ;  "  how  many  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  how  many,"  said  Lucy.  "  But 
one  of  them  is  white,  and  his  name  is  Flake." 

"  Are  your  brother's  doves  pretty  tame  ? A 
said  Marielle. 

"  Flake  is  pretty  tame,"  said  Lucy.  "  Royal 
can  catch  him  whenever  he  wants  him." 

"  Did  not  Mary  Jay  tell  you  anything  more 
about  the  picture  ?  "  said  Marielle  to  Jane. 

"  No,"  said  Jane,  "  but  she  promised  that  she 
would  tell  us  all  the  story  some  day,  out  in  the 
summer-house.     Hark  '  there  is  the  bell." 

The  girls  listened,  and  heard  the  bell  ringing ; 
and  so  they  all  began  to  go  towards  the  house. 
As  they  were  going  up  stairs  to  the  school-room, 
Lucy  asked  Marielle  why  they  always  called 
Mary  Jay  by  her  whole  name. 

"  Why  don't  you  call  her  only  Mary,  some- 
times ? "  she  asked. 

"Why,  Mary  Jay  is  not  her  whole  name/' 
*aid  Marielle.  "That  U  only  her  first  name 
We  always  call  her  Mary  Jay." 

"  What  is  her  whole  came,  then  ?  "  said  Lucy 


MARY   JAY.  59 

But  Marielle  could  not  answer  this  question  ; 
for  at  that  moment  they  went  into  the  school- 
room, and  they  saw  that  the  plume  was  up,  and 
consequently  to  speak  would  be  against  the 
law. 

Lucy  heard  no  more  of  Mary  Jay  until  she 
went  home  from  school ;  and  then,  when  she  was 
giving  an  account  of  her  adventures  at  school  to 
Miss  Anne  and  Royal,  and  was  describing  Mary 
Jay,  she  ended  by  saying, 

"  And,  Royal,  you  don't  know  what  beautiful 
pictures  she  can  paint." 

"  I  wish  I  could  see  some  of  them,"  said 
Royal. 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  how 
so  old  a  scholar  happens  to  go  to  your  school. 
She  can't  belong  to  the  family.  I  don't  believe 
that  she  is  really  a  scholar  there." 

"  Yes  she  is,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  she  does  sums." 

"  How  do  you  know?"  said  Royal. 

"Because,"  said  Lucy,  "  that  was  the  reason 
why  she  could  not  come  out  in  the  recess." 

"  How  old  should  you  think  she  was,  Lucy?" 
said  Miss  Anne. 

"Why,  about  twenty, —  or  forty,  at  least," 
said  Lucy. 

Royal  burst  into  a  loud  and  boisterous  fit  of 


60 


laughter  at  this  estimate ;  while  Lucy  herself 
looked  ashamed  and  perplexed,  and  said, 

"  You  need  not  laugh,  Royal ;  for,  at  any  rate, 
she  is  older  than  }*ou." 

Royal  only  laughed  the  more  at  this  ;  —  even 
Miss  Anne  smiled,  and  Lucy,  perceiving  it,  began 
to  look  seriously  troubled.  Miss  Anne  attempted 
to  turn  her  thoughts  awa}^  from  the  subject,  by 
asking  her  how  she  liked  her  school. 

Lucy  said  she  liked  it  very  much  indeed. 

' '  I  wish  I  could  go  to  your  school,"  said 
Royal. 

uO  no,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "you  are  too 
large." 

"lam  not  so  large  as  Mary  Jay,"  said  Royal, 
"  according  to  Lucy's  story." 

"  I  don't  understand  about  Mary  Jay's  case," 
said  Miss  Anne,  "  I  confess.  There  seems  to  be 
some  mystery  about  it.  But  I  certainly  should 
not  think  that  they  would  be  willing  to  have  a 
boy  as  old  as  3011  in  their  school,  —  unless  he 
was  a  very  remarkable  boy  indeed." 

"Why  not?"  said  Royal. 

"Because,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  it  is  a  private 
school,  opening  into  a  very  valuable  garden, 
and,  of  course,  all  the  fruits  and  flowers  are  ex- 
posed." 


mart  jay  61 

**  No,  not  aL?  said  Lucy ;  "  there  is  only  a 
part  of  the  garden  that  we  can  go  in." 

"  How  do  you  know  ? "  said  Royal. 

"Why,  I  was  walking  along  with  Marielle, 
and  I  wanted  to  run  down  a  winding  walk  by 
the  great  pear-tree,  and  Marielle  said  we  must 
not  go  there." 

"  What  great  pear-tree  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  O,  a  great  pear-tree  there  was  there." 

"  Couldn't  you  go  there  at  all  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Not  unless  the  teacher  went  with  us,"  said 
Lucy,  "  or  else  Mary  Jay.  At  least,  that  is  what 
Marielle  said." 

The  children  talked  no  more  about  the  school 
at  this  time,  but  Miss  Anne  said  that  she  meant 
to  ask  Lucy's  mother  about  Mary  Jay ;  for  she 
wanted  very  much  to  know  how  there  came  to 
be  so  large  a  scholar  in  such  a  little  school. 

All  this  account  of  Mary  Jay  is  given  here, 
because  Lucy  afterwards  learned  more  about  her, 
and  heard  her  tell  a  number  of  stories,  some  of 
which  are  given,  farther  on  in  this  book.  But 
Lucy  did  not  learn  anything  more  about  her 
that  day,  nor  hear  any  of  her  stories.  But  she 
heard  one  story  that  afternoon  from  her  father. 
He  told  it  to  her,  while  he  was  sitting  in  a  chai 
6 


62 


LUCY'S    STORIES. 


in  the  yard  behind  the  house,  ooking  towards 
Royal's  hen  coop.  It  was  the  story  of  the  Old 
Polander.  This  story  is  given  in  the  next 
chapter. 


THE    OLD    FOUNDER.  63 


CHAPTER     V. 
STORY   OF  THE   OLD   POLANDER. 

Once  there  was  a  cockerel  called  the  old  Po- 
Jander.  He  was  black.  He  had  a  little  tuft  of 
feathers  upon  his  head.  He  ate  corn.  He  walked 
about  among  his  hens  with  an  air  of  great  impor- 
tance and  dignity,  and  when  he  was  pleased,  he 
would  flap  his  wings  and  crow  aloud.  The  hens 
had  caps  of  feathers  upon  their  heads,  too. 

The  old  Polander  belonged  to  a  gentleman 
and  his  little  girl.  The  gentleman  was  going  to 
give  him  away  to  his  nephews,  -  the  little  girl's 
cousins,  —  who  lived  hundreds  of  miles  off.  Her 
uncle  was  going  to  take  the  old  Polander  home 
with  him  in  the  steamboat  and  he  stage.  The 
little  girl  was  sorry  to  have  him  sent  away. 
They  were  going  to  send  him  in  a  box.  They 
caught  him,  and  put  him  in  the  box.  They  put 
three  hens  in  with  him  for  company.  Then  they 
began  to  nail  some  narrow  strips  of  wood  across 
the  top  of  the  box,  so  as  to  make  a  cage  of  it, 
and  keep  him  from  getting  out. 


64  LUCI  S    STORIES. 

While  they  were  nailing  on  the  strips,  he  gave 
a  sudden  spring  ana  broke  away.  He  ran  off 
into  the  yard  ;  and,  when  he  found  he  was  at 
liberty,  he  began  to  step  about  with  great  satisfac- 
tion.    Then  he  flapped  his  wings  and  crowed. 

They  drove  him  into  a  shed,  and  caught  him 
again.  This  time  they  were  more  careful  in  put 
ting  him  into  the  box,  and  in  nailing  on  the  strips. 
The  little  girl  stood  by,  wishing  that  he  would  get 
out  again.  She  did  not  like  to  see  him  nailed  up 
in  a  cage.  And  she  did  not  like  to  have  him  go 
away. 

But  this  time  he  did  not  get  out.     They  naileu 
him  up  securely.     He  put  his  head  out  between 
the  wooden  bars,  but  the  interstices  were  too  nat 
row  for  him  to  get  his  body  through,  and  so  he 
soon  gave  up  the  idea  of  making  his  escape. 

They  put  some  corn  into  the  cage,  for  the  old 
Polander  and  his  hens  to  eat.  But  they  paid  no 
attention  to  it.  They  were  so  much  agitated  at 
being  shut  up  together  in  such  a  strange  place, 
that  they  had  no  appetite.  So  the  people  left 
the  corn  in  there  for  them  to  eat  on  the  way,  and 
they  put  the  cage  with  the  other  things,  that  were 
to  go  in  the  steamboat.  There  was  a  trunk; 
and  a  great  picture,  with  its  frame,  nailed  up  in  a 
flat  box ;  and  a  large  carpet  bag,  and  some  chairs. 


THE   OLD   POLANDEE.  65 

All  these  things  were  left  in  the  yard,  waiting  for 
the  man  to  come  in  the  cart  to  take  them  away. 
The  poor  little  girl  was  sadly  troubled  to  think 
that  her  cockerel  was  going  awaj^.  She  came 
and  offered  him  some  of  her  bread  through  the 
bars  of  his  prison  ;  but  he  would  not  eat. 

Presently  the  cart  came ;  and  the  man  lifted 
the  box  and  all  the  other  things  into  it,  and  then 
drove  awa}\  The  gentleman  had  told  him  to 
take  them  to  the  steamboat.  So  he  went  into 
the  city,  and  passed  along  through  the  streets,  till 
he  came  to  the  wharf,  where  the  steamboat  was. 
Then  he  took  off  the  cage,  and  the  picture  box, 
and  the  trunk,  and  the  carpet  bag,  and  the  chairs, 
and  put  them  down  upon  the  wharf  by  the  side 
of  the  steamboat. 

By  and  by  the  gentleman  came  down  to  the 
wharf  to  see  if  his  things  had  been  carried  safely 
there.  He  found  them  all  there  upon  the  wharf. 
There  were  a  great  many  other  things  upon  the 
wharf.  There  were  barrels,  and  boxes,  and 
trunks,  and  other  things,  which  had  been  sent 
there  to  go  in  the  steamboat.  There  were  some 
men  there  putting  the  things  in.  The}'  called  it 
putting  the  things  on  board.  They  had  a  broad 
plank ;  one  end  rested  on  the  wharf,  and  the 
other  end  was  down  in  the  steamboat ;  and  so 
6 


56  lucy's  stories. 

they  could  slide  the  boxes  and  barrels  down  5 
and  then  they  had  a  kind  of  a  wheelbarrow  to 
wheel  the  boxes  away  to  any  part  of  the  steam- 
boat where  they  wanted  to  put  them.  As  to  the 
barrels,  they  could  roll  them  along  easily,  without 
any  wheelbarrow. 

All  the  people  that  wished  to  send  anything  by 
the  steamboat,  had  to  pay  some  money.  There 
was  a  man  upon  the  wharf,  who  had  a  little  book 
and  a  pencil  in  his  hands ;  and  he  wrote  the 
names  of  the  things  as  fast  as  the  people  brought 
them,  and  told  them  how  much  to  pay.  He  told 
the  gentleman  that  he  must  pay  a  half  a  dollar  for 
his  articles.  So  the  gentleman  paid  him  half  a 
dollar,  and  he  wrote  it  down  in  his  book.  Then 
the  men  took  the  things,  and  slid  them  down  into 
the  steamboat.  They  put  the  cage  near  the 
middle  of  the  steamboat,  at  the  end  of  a  great 
pile  of  trunks,  which  reached  from  the  captain's 
office  away  to  the  main  shaft.  The  cage  came 
exactly  under  the  main  shaft. 

The  main  shaft  is  a  great  round  iron  beam, 
which  passes  across  the  steamboat  in  the  middle. 
The  great  paddle-wheels,  which  go  round,  and 
make  the  steamboat  move  through  the  water, 
are  fastened  to  the  ends  of  the  main  shaft.  Some 
part  of  the  steam  engine  takes  hold  of  the  main 


THE    OLD    POLANDER.  67 

shaft  in  ihe  middle,  and  makes  it  go  round.  The 
main  shaft  was  not  moving  when  they  put  the 
cage  under  it,  because  the  boat  was  not  going 
then.  It  was  standing  still  at  the  wharf.  It  was 
not  time  yet  for  the  steamboat  to  sail.  It  would 
not  be  time  until  evening.  So  when  the  gentle- 
man saw  the  cage  put  safely  in  its  place,  under 
the  main  shaft,  and  all  the  other  things  properly 
stowed  away,  he  went  back  to  the  city  to  wait 
until  evening,  when  the  boat  was  going  to  sail. 

When  the  evening  came,  he  returned  on  board 
the  boat.  He  found  a  great  many  people  there. 
He  went  to  the  end  of  the  great  pile  of  trunks  to 
see  the  old  Polander  and  his  hens.  They  were 
there  all  safe,  only  they  had  rubbed  off  some  of 
their  feathers.  The  cage  was  laid  down  upon 
its  side,  so  that  the  prisoners  could  look  out  a 
little  through  the  bars ;  though  there  was  not 
much  for  them  to  see.  There  were  a  good  many 
feathers  lying  upon  the  deck  of  the  steamboat, 
and  also  some  of  the  corn  which  had  been  put  in 
for  them  to  eat.  The  cockerel  and  the  hens  had 
pushed  out  the  corn  and  the  feathers,  some  how 
or  other,  in  walking  about.  The  gentleman  put 
the  corn  back  into  the  cage,  but  they  did  not  eat. 

When  all  the  passengers  were  ready,  and  the 
last  hell  had  rung,  the  steamboat   sailed    awav 


68 


lATCY'S    STORIES 


The  sun  went  down,  and  the  evening  came  on, 
and  they  lighted  lamps  all  over  the  steamboat. 
By  this  time  they  were  far  out  to  sea.  The  pas- 
sengers were  down  in  the  cabins,  reading  at  the 
tables,  or  talking,  or  eating  their  suppers —  all 
except  a  few  who  were  still  upon  the  deck. 
These  that  were  upon  the  deck  could  see  noth- 
ing, all  around  the  boat,  but  water  —  water  on 
every  side.  Only  now  and  then  they  could  see, 
at  a  great  distance,  a  little  star  of  light,  too  low 
down  to  be  a  star  of  the  sky.  It  was  a  light- 
house upon  the  land,  a  very  high  lighthouse, 
with  a  great  bright  light  in  the  top  of  it,  so  that 
the  men  in  the  ships  and  steamboats  might  know 
where  the  land  was.  But  though  the  lighthouse 
was  very  high,  and  the  light  in  the  top  of  it  was 
very  bright,  they  could  see  nothing  from  the 
steamboat  but  a  faint  star,  down  very  near  to  the 
horizon.  It  was  because  they  were  so  far  away 
from  it. 

At  length,  about  nine  o'clock,  the  passengers 
went  to  bed ;  and  while  they  were  sleeping,  the 
steamboat  went  ploughing  on  through  the  water, 
lour  after  hour,  all  the  night  long.  At  length, 
the  day  dawned  in  the  east,  and  the  light  of  it 
gleamed  in  a  little,  between  the  captain's  office 
and  the  ladies'  cabin      As  soon  as  the  old  P<>- 


THE    OLD    POLAfeDER.  69 

lander  saw  it,  he  set  up  a  loud  crow,  to  wake  his 
hens,  and  let  them  know  it  was  morning. 

The  gentleman  heard  him  crow.  "  Ah  !  " 
said  he,  "  the  old  cockerel  is  recovering  his  spirits. 
Perhaps  this  morning  he  will  have  some  appetite 
to  eat." 

So,  an  hour  or  two  after,  when  he  was  dressed, 
and  ready  for  his  breakfast,  he  went  and  borrowed 
a  tea-cup  from  the  forward  cabin,  and  filled  it 
with  water,  and  carried  it  to  the  cage,  to  give  the 
poor  imprisoned  birds  a  drink.  He  held  the  edge 
of  the  cup  up  between  the  bars  of  the  cage.  The 
interstices  were  so  narrow  that  he  could  not  get 
it  in  entirely.  He  looked  in  to  see  how  the  poor 
prisoners  fared.  They  were  crowded  in,  heads, 
tails,  legs,  and  wings,  all  mixed  together,  so  that 
they  could  not  get  at  the  cup  to  drink,  very  well. 

Presently,  one  hen  found  the  way  to  it,  and 
began  to  drink.  The  old  Polander's  head  was 
near;  but  he  was  so  polite  and  gentlemanly, 
that  he  would  not  take  any  until  all  his  hens  had 
been  supplied.  They  drank,  one  after  another; 
and  at  length  the  water  was  all  gone.  The  gen- 
tleman then  went  and  filled  the  cup  again,  and 
after  all  the  hens  had  drank,  the  rooster  drank 
himself,  and  then  crowed  to  express  his  satisfac- 
tion.    The  passengers  heard  him  crow,  and  won 


70 


dered  how  there  happened  to  be  a  cockerel  on 

board  the  steamboat. 

By  and  by,  the  steamboat  came  to  the  land. 
The  passengers  went  ashore,  and  rode  away  in 
various  stage-coaches  and  carnages.  They  put 
the  cage,  with  the  old  Polander  and  his  hens  in  it, 
upon  the  top  of  a  stage-coach  ;  while  the  gen- 
tleman who  had  the  care  of  them  rode  within. 
They  put  the  cage  down  upon  its  side,  so  that 
the  cockerel  and  his  hens  could  see  out,  and 
pnjoy  the  prospect  of  the  houses  and  farms  along 
the  way.  When  they  stopped  at  the  taverns  to 
water  the  horses,  or  to  change  them,  the  boys 
gathered  around  to  see  the  strange  sight  of  a 
rooster  and  his  family  riding  in  the  stage;  and 
the  old  Polander  crowed  in  alternation  with  the 
tavern  rooster  in  the  barn  yard. 

At  one  time,  the  gentleman  got  some  oats  from 
a  barn,  and  threw  into  their  cage.  They  ate  the 
oats  with  the  greatest  eagerness,  —  all  except  the 
old  Polander,  who  waited  till  he  saw  that  all  his 
hens  were  well  supplied,  and  then  he  ate  as  fast 
as  they. 

At  night,  the  whole  party  reached  their  home. 
They  took  the  box  down  from  the  stage,  and 
carried  it  into  the  yard.  They  split  off  the  bars 
from  the  cage.     The  old  P)lande/   walked  out, 


THE    JLD    POLANDER.  71 

and  his  hens  followed  him  They  looked  around, 
surprised  and  bewildered,  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
then  the  old  Polander  flapped  his  wings  and 
crowed.  He  walked  about  among  his  hens  a 
minute,  with  a  majestic  air,  and,  seeing  that  they 
had  arrived  safe  at  the  end  of  their  journey,  with 
no  other  injury  than  that  their  caps  were  a  little 
tumbled,  he  crowed  again  louder  than  ever; 
and  they  all  went  to  work  immediately  catching 
grasshoppers  and  crickets  for  supper. 
This  is  a  true  story. 


i&  LUCY'S    STORIFH. 

CHAPTER    VI. 
THE   MOROCCO  BOOK. 

The  next  day,  when  Mis?  Anne  was  getting 
Lucy  ready  to  go  to  school,  she  told  tar  that  she 
had  found  out  something  about  Mary  Ja) 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  one  thing  is,  that  she  is  lame.,, 

"  O  no,"  said  Lucy,  "  she  is  not  lame.  She  js 
a  very  beautiful  girl  indeed." 

Lucy  did  not  know  exactly  what  Miss  Anne 
meant  by  lame ;  but  she  thought  it  was  some- 
thing unfavorable  in  regard  to  her  appearance, 
and  so  she  contradicted  it.  Lucy  was  right 
about  Mary  Jay's  countenance ;  for  it  was  really 
very  pleasing. 

"  I  did  not  say  that  she  was  not  beautiful," 
said  Miss  Anne,  "  but  only  that  she  was  lame. 
That  means,  that  she  cannot  walk  very  well." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  don't  believe  that  she 
is  lame." 

"  Did  you  see  her  walk  ? "  said  Miss  Anne. 

*  No,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  she  sat  still  all  the  time.* 


THE    MOROCCO    BOOK.  7S 

"  Didn't  she  come  out  in  the  recess  ?  "  asked 
Miss  Anne. 

"  No,"  said  Lucy ;  "  but  that  was  because  she 
had  a  hard  sum  to  do,  and  not  because  she  was 
lame." 

"Well,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "you  will  see. 
Only,  if  she  is  lame,  you  must  be  sure  and  not 
laugh  at  her." 

"  O  no,  Miss  Anne,  I  am  sure  I  should  not 
laugh  at  her." 

"No,  I  think  you  would  not;  but  sometimes 
children  do,  and  so  I  thought  I  would  speak  to 
you  about  it." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  don't  believe  she  is 
lame  at  all ;  and  if  she  was,  I  am  sure  I  shouldn't 
laugh  at  her." 

So  saying.  Lucy  went  away  to  school.  She 
walked  along  the  road,  as  she  had  done  the 
morning  before,  only  now  she  was  alone.  The 
way  was  very  direct,  and  she  thought  that  she 
could  find  it  herself,  without  any  difficulty.  She 
did  not  walk  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  but  in  the 
path,  upon  the  bank,  by  the  side  of  it,  where  Ma- 
rielle  had  led  her 

She  went  along  for  some  time,  without  meeting 
with  any  adventure,  until,  at  length,  she  came  to 
the  beginning  of  the  wall.     She  was  very  glad  to 


74 


see  the  wall ;  for  this  proved  that  she  was  right, 
and  had  not  lost  her  way.  After  she  had  walked 
on  a  little  farther,  she  thought  she  heard  a  rustling 
among  the  branches  of  the  trees,  over  the  wall 
above  her  head ;  and  she  accordingly  looked  up 

"  Lucy,"  said  a  gentle  little  voice  above  her 

Lucy  looked  all  around  ;  and  presently  she  saw 
a  bright,  happy-looking  face,  peeping  between  the 
branches  of  some  small  trees,  which  were  pushed 
apart  by  a  pair  of  little  hands. 

"  Marielle,  is  that  you  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle,  —  for  it  was  really  she, 
—  "I  climbed  up  here  to  watch  for  you." 

"  How  did  you  get  up  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  O,  there  are  some  steps,"  said  Marielle. 

"  How  can  /get  up  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  You  can't  get  up  from  the  outside,"  said  Ma- 
rielle, "  but  you  must  walk  along  to  the  door  gate, 
and  come  in  there." 

So  Lucy  walked  along  to  the  door  gate ;  but 
just  before  she  got  to  it,  it  opened,  and  Marielle 
came  out  to  meet  her. 

"O  Lucy,  we  kave  got  a  secret,"  said  Ma- 
rielle. 

"  What  is  it  ? "  said  Lucy. 

Just  at  this  instant,  two  little  boys  came  round 
the  corner  of  the  house,  and  met  Lucy  and  Ma- 


THE    MOROCCO    BOOK.  75 

rielle,  as  they  were  walking  along  towards  the 
door  which  led  to  the  school-room. 

"  We  have  put  it  in  the  gardener's  room,5'  saia 
one  of  them,  —  "the  teacher  said  we  might/' 
The  boy  spoke  in  a  very  eager  tone,  but  in  a  sort 
of  a  loud  whisper,  as  if  he  was  very  much  inter- 
ested in  what  he  was  saying,  but  also  as  if  he 
was  afraid  that  somebody  would  hear. 

"  Hush ! "  said  the  other  boy,  looking  up. 
"She  will  hear  you." 

"Who  will  hear?"  said  Lucy.  Lucy  looked 
about  from  one  to  the  other,  very  much  perplexed 
at  all  this  mystery. 

"  Why,  Maiy  Jay,"  said  one  of  the  boys : 
"the  window  is  open,  and  she  will  hear." 

''  What  is  the  secret  ? "  said  Lucy ;  "  do  tell  me." 
But  the  children  were  all  talking  together  so 
eagerly,  and  each  calling  upon  the  other  to  hush, 
that  Lucy  could  not  obtain  any  explanation  from 
any  of  them.  They  walked  along  to  the  door, 
and  went  in ;  but,  instead  of  going  up  stairs,  they 
went  to  the  door  of  a  room  below,  which  they 
said  was  the  gardener's  room.  Lucy  followed 
on  as  fast  as  she  could  She  wanted  to  see  the 
secret  very  much 

But  she  was  disappointed  ;  for,  just  as  they 
were  opening  the  door  of  the  gardener's  room 


T6 


they  neard  a  noise  at  the  top  of  the  staiis ;  and 
they  immediately  began  to  exclaim,  all  together, 
u  Hush  !  hush  !  Mary  Jay  is  coming  —  she  is 
coming.  Shut  the  door  quick."  And  they 
pulled  the  door  to,  as  quick  as  possible,  and 
all  ran   away. 

It  turned  out,  however,  to  be  a  false  alarm  ;  for 
Mary  Jay  did  not  come.  But,  before  they  had 
time  to  go  back  again  to  the  door  of  the  garden- 
er's room,  the  bell  rang,  and  they  all  had  to  go  up 
stairs  to  the  school-room. 

When  Lucy  went  into  the  school-room,  Mary 
Jay  was  sitting  at  her  seat,  looking  very  innocent ; 
and  she  seemed  to  be  perfectly  unconscious  of  all 
the  secrets  and  plots  which  were  going  on  below. 
Lucy  was  confirmed  in  her  opinion  that  she  was 
not  lame ;  for,  although  she  was  still  sitting  in 
her  seat,  yet  Lucy  was  sure  she  did  not  look  as 
if  she  was  lame. 

However,  the  question  was  soon  settled;  for, 
about  the  middle  of  the  forenoon,  the  teacher 
asked  Mary  Jay  if  she  would  be  kind  enough 
to  hear  the  third  class  read ;  and  Lucy  immedi- 
ately  looked  up  to  see  what  she  woul  1  do.  Two 
or  three  children,  that  belonged  to  the  third  class, 
be^an  to  £o  out  of  the  room,  to  a  seat  which  was 
placed  in  the  entry,    so  that  the   reading  might 


THE    MOBOCCO    BOOK.  77 

not  disturb  the  other  scholars.  Lucy  saw  them 
going  out,  and  then  she  looked  back  again  to- 
wards Mary  Jay.  To  her  great  surprise,  she  saw 
that  she  was  just  putting  a  crutch  under  her  right 
arm,  as  she  was  standing  up  by  the  side  of  her 
desk.  There  was  a  little  boy  at  her  side,  ready 
to  take  hold  of  her  left  hand.  She  then  walked 
slowly  across  the  floor,  making  no  noise,  but  lean- 
ing at  every  step  upon  her  crutch,  and  scarcely 
touching  her  right  foot  to  the  floor.  Poor  Mary 
Jay  was  very  lame  indeed. 

"  Well,"  thought  Lucy  to  herself,  with  a  deep 
sigh,  as  Mary  Jay  disappeared,  and  the  door 
closed,  "  at  any  rate,  I  shall  never  laugh  at  her." 

At  the  recess  that  day,  the  children  all  gathered 
around  Mary  Jay's  desk,  and  said  that  she  must 
come  down.  She  said  that  she  must  stay  and  do 
her  sums  ;  but  the  children  said  no,  she  must  come 
down.  They  had  a  very  particular  reason.  Mary 
Jay  asked  them  what  the  reason  was;  but  they 
would  not  tell  her,  but  only  insisted  that  she  must 
come  down.  One  of  the  girls  got  her  crutch,  and 
handed  it  to  her ;  and  at  length  she  arose,  put  on 
her  bonnet,  took  her  crutch,  and  walked  along, 
—  some  of  the  children  going  with  her,  and  some 
scampering  on  before,  with  every  appearance  of 
exultation  and  delight. 
7* 


78 


Lucy  followed  on  with  the  others ;  and  when 
she  got  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  she  saw  two  or 
three  of  the  children  standing  with  their  backs 
against  the  door  of  the  gardener's  roan,  as  if  to 
prevent  any  body  from  going  in.  The  children 
that  were  walking  with  Mary  Jay,  led  her  by, 
and  out  at  the  door. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  me  ? "  said 
she. 

"  O,  you'll  see,"  said  Marielle ;  "  you  must  come 
along  out  here." 

They  led  Mary  Jay  round  the  corner  of  the 
building,  to  a  seat  under  a  tree,  close  to  the  walk ; 
and  then  they  called  aloud  to  those  who  had  been 
left  at  the  door  of  the  gardener's  room  to  come. 
Lucy  wondered  what  they  were  going  to  bring. 
She  ran  back  round  the  corner  to  look.  She 
found  that  two  or  three  boys,  who  belonged  to 
the  school,  were  just  bringing  down,  over  the 
steps,  a  little  carriage.  It  had  four  good,  strong 
wheels,  and  a  good  seat  above  them,  just  big 
enough  for  Mary  Jay  to  sit  in.  For  Lucy  had 
maue  a  great  mistake  in  estimating  her  age  at 
forty.     The  truth  was,  that  she  was  just  sixteen. 

They  drew  the  chaise  up  before  the  seat  where 
Mary  Jay  was  sitting,  and  told  her  that  she  must 
get  in 


THE    MOROCCO    BOOK.  79 

"  Q  no,"  said  Mary  Jay,  "  J  can't  get  in.  It 
is  a  beautiful  little  carriage,  but  it  is  not  strong 
enough  to  bear  me." 

"  O  yes,  it  will  bear  you,"  said  a  Doy  named 
George,  who  was  considerably  bigger  than  Lucy ; 
"my  father  said  it  would  bear  any  body  that 
could  get  into  it.     He  got  into  it  himself." 

"  Is  it  your  carriage,  George  ? "  said  Mary  Jay. 

"  Yes,"  said  George ;  "  and  I  brought  it  for 
you  to  ride  in.  We  want  to  draw  you  down  to 
the  summer-house." 

"  Well,  I  am  sure  I  am  very  much  obliged  to 
you,"  said  Mary  Jay  ;  "  but  I  can't  let  you  draw 
me  about.  I  can  walk  very  well  with  my 
crutch." 

"  No,"  said  the  children,  "  you  must  ride  ;  you 
must  get  in  and  ride." 

And  so  saying,  they  took  hold  of  Mary  Jay,  as 
if  they  were  going  to  put  her  in  by  force  ;  one  of 
the  children  took  hold  of  her  crutch  gently,  and 
said  he  was  going  to  run  away  with  it,  and  then 
she  would  have  to  ride. 

Mary  Jay  said,  "  No,  you  must  not  have  my 
crutch,  for  I  want  that  to  help  me  get  in  with." 
Ana  she  rose  from  her  seat,  and  seemed  half 
inclined  to  go,  but  yet  not  quite  decided. 


80  lucy's  stories. 

"  Are  you  sure  it  is  strong  enough,  George  ?  " 
said  she. 

''  O  yes, '  said  George,  "  it  is  on  irons  ;  see," 
added  he,  pointing  to  the  irons  which  supported 
the  body  of  the  chaise. 

"  Come,  jump  in,  Mary  Jay,"  said  a  pleasant 
voice  from  above  them. 

The  children  looked  up,  and  saw  that  it  was 
the  teacher,  who  was  looking  out  the  window. 
•c  Come,  jump  in,"  said  she ;  "  I  want  to  see  the 
ride." 

Being  thus  urged  by  the  scholars,  and  en- 
couraged by  the  teacher,  Mary  Jay  cautiously 
mounted  the  carriage,  and  took  her  seat.  George 
took  hold  of  the  pole  ;  for  there  was  a  pole  to  the 
carriage,  with  a  cross  piece  at  the  end  of  it,  instead 
of  shafts.  Chaises,  and  carriages  which  are  in- 
tended for  one  horse,  have  shafts ;  while  those 
which  are  to  be  drawn  by  two  or  four,  have  a 
pole ;  and  so  one  horse  stands  upon  one  side  of 
the  pole,  and  the  other  upon  the  other  sidn. 
These  two  horses  are  called  the  pole  horses. 
Then,  if  there  are  any  more  horses  required, 
they  are  placed  before  the  others,  and  are  called 
leaders. 

It  hac  been  agreed  before,  among  the  children, 
that  George,  and  another  boy  about  as  large  as  he, 


THE    MOROCCO    BOCK.  81 

should  be  the  pole  horses,  and  two  others,  rather 
smaller,  should  be  the  leaders.  There  were  only 
four  boys  belonging  to  the  school.  They  thought 
it  was  more  suitable  that  the  boys  should  be 
the  horses,  to  draw  Mary  Jay  ;  but  then  they 
agreed  that  Marielle  should  take  hold  behind,  anr* 
push  a  little,  which  would  make  it  easier  to  draw 
Thus  arranged,  the  carriage  began  to  move  on. 

"  Slowly,  now/'  said  Mary  Jay.  "  Gently,  — 
gently." 

"  Yes,"  said  George,  "  we  will  go  gently." 

The  boys  walked  along,  taking  a  turn  by  a 
circular  walk  which  led  around  a  pump  that  was 
placed  in  a  little  alcove,  for  watering  the  garden. 
They  came  gradually  round  to  the  head  of  a 
broad  walk,  which  extended  off  to  a  great  dis- 
tance among  the  trees.  Here  the  horses  began 
to  trot  gently  ;  and  Mary  Jay,  who  now  seemed 
to  feel  more  secure,  and  to  perceive  that  the  car- 
riage was  really  a  good,  strong  one,  began  to 
chirup  a  little  to  her  horses,  to  make  them  go 
faster. 

The  horses  were  quite  pleased  with  this,  for 
they  were  horses  of  spirit,  and  were  impatient  to 
go  faster ;  so  they  began  to  trot  along  the  hard, 
smooth  walk,  with  considerable  speed.  Marielle 
pushed  behind,  and  Jane  and  Lucy,  and  two  o- 


82  LUCY7S    STORIES. 

three  other  small  children,  ran  after  the  carriage, 
doing  all  they  could  to  keep  up.  Thus  they 
travelled  about,  as  long  as  the  recess  lasted,  all 
over  the  garden  ;  for  when  Mary  Jay  was  with 
them,  they  had  permission  to  go  to  any  part  of  it 
they  pleased. 

The  recess  was  generally  twenty  minutes, — 
because,  as  there  was  only  one  school  every  day, 
it  was  about  four  hours  and  a  half  long  ;  and  so 
the  teacher  thought  that  they  ought  to  have  a 
good  long  recess. 

When  the  recess  was  ended,  they  drew  Mary 
Jay  back  to  the  school-room,  and  told  her  that 
to-morrow  they  were  going  to  have  a  story  out  of 
the  Morocco  Book. 

"  The  Morocco  Book  ?  "  said  Lucy  to  Marielle ; 
"  what  is  the  Morocco  Book  ?  " 

"  To-morrow  is  not  Wednesday,  is  it  ? "  said 
George. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle. 

"Well,"  said  Lucy,  "what  of  it,  if  it  is? 
What  happens  Wednesday  ? " 

"  Why,  we  have  a  drawing  school,"  said  Ma- 
rielle, "  in  the  afternoon.  We  all  come  to  draw, 
—  only  Mary  Jay  stays  at  noon.  And  then, 
after  the  drawing,  we  always  have  an  hour  to  play 
in  the  garden." 


THE    MOROCCO    BOOK.  83 

There  was  no  more  time  for  explanations  ;  for 
now  they  reached  the  school-room,  and  Mary 
Jay  got  out  of  the  little  carriage,  and  they  all 
went  in. 

At  the  close  of  the  school,  Lucy  asked  the 
teacher  if  she  might  come  to  the  drawing  school, 
the  next  day.  The  teacher  said  that  she  was 
too  young  to  draw  much  ;  but  that  if  she  would 
sit  still,  and  draw  upon  the  slate,  and  not  disturb 
the  others,  she  might  come.  Lucy  made  abun- 
dance of  promises ;  and  when  she  went  home 
and  told  her  mother,  it  was  agreed  that  she 
should  go. 

After  the  drawing  school,  the  next  day,  the 
children  brought  the  chaise  to  the  door,  and  took 
Mary  Ja}r  in.  She  laid  her  crutch  down  by  her 
side ;  and  Lucy  observed  that  she  had  a  large 
book,  with  morocco  covers,  in  her  lap. 

"  Is  that  the  Morocco  Book?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle ;  "  it  is  full  of  stories  and 
pictures." 

When  they  reached  the  lower  part  of  the  gar- 
den, Mary  Jay  got  out  of  the  carriage,  and  the 
whole  party  seated  themselves  on  some  little  seats 
in  an  arbor.  When  all  were  ready,  Mary  Jay 
opened  the  Morocco  Book,  and  read  them  the  fol- 
lowing story. 


M4  LUCf's    STOBII8, 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE   STORY   OF   ROCKSY. 

V  I  i  M     MART    JAY'S     MOROCCO     BOOK. 

Rocksy  lived  with  her  mother  in  a  small  house, 
which  was  built  in  a  lonely  place  upon  the  sea- 
shore. She  thought  that  the  reason  why  her 
name  was  Rocksy,  was  because  she  lived  among 
the  rocks;  but  this  was  not  the  reason.  Her 
name  was  at  first  Roxanna,  and  they  shortened 
it  to  Rocksy. 

Her  father  was  a  fisherman.  He  had  a  boat, 
which  he  kept  tied  to  a  stake  upon  the  beach, 
when  he  was  not  out  in  it  upon  the  water,  fishing. 
Rocksy  used  to  get  into  this  boat,  and  play  go  a- 
fishing.  It  was  tied  to  the  stake,  so  that  it  could 
not  get  away ;  but  she  could  push  it  a  little  from 
one  side  to  the  other,  when  the  tide  was  just  high 
enough  to  float  it.  When  she  could  not  play  in 
her  father's  boat,  she  used  sometimes  to  play  go 
a-fishing  in  the  house ;  and  then  her  fishing  boat 
was  her  little  brother's  cradle. 


"THE    STORY    OF    ROCK  ST.  85 

For  Rocksy  had  a  little  brother,  ust  big 
enough  to  creep.  She  used  to  take  care  of  him, 
and  rock  him  in  his  cradle.  Sometimes  she 
would  carry  him  down  to  the  beach,  when  it  was 
sunny,  and  put  him  on  the  sand,  and  let  him  sit 
there  and  see  her  throw  pebbles  into  the  water. 

One  day,  Rocksy's  father  went  a-fishing.  It 
was  pleasant  weather  in  the  morning,  when  he 
went ;  but  at  noon  it  became  cloudy,  and  in  the 
afternoon  the  wind  began  to  blow,  and  it  rained. 
Rocksy  was  sorry  for  the  storm,  because  she 
wanted  to  go  dowi  to  the  beach  that  afternoon 
Her  mother  was  sony,  because  she  was  afraid  tha 
her  husband  would  be  cast  away. 

Rocksy  asked  her  mother  to  let  her  play  go  a 
fishing  in  the  cradle.  Her  mother  said  yes  ;  and 
so  she  put  her  little  brother  in  at  the  head  of  the 
cradle,  while  she  sat  at  the  foot  of  it,  and  began 
to  rock,  and  to  play  that  she  was  sailing  out  to 
sea.  Sometimes  she  would  make  believe  that 
there  was  a  great  storm  ;  and  then  she  would  rock 
the  cradle  violently,  and  give  orders  to  her  little 
brother,  whom  she  called  her  sailor.  Then,  at 
length,  the  storm  would  subside,  and  she  would 
let  the  cradle  be  still ;  and  then  she  would  lean 
over  the  side  of  it,  and  pretend  that  she  w?  i 
6shing. 


*6 


She  was  playing  so  when  it  began  to  grow 
dark.  Her  mother  looked  very  anxious,  and 
went  several  times  to  look  out  at  the   window 

"Now,  Jack,"  said  Rocksy,  —  for  when  -he 
was  playing  that  the  baby  was  her  sailor,  she 
always  called  him  Jack,  —  "  Now,  Jack,  1  feel  a 
bite.  Don't  say  a  word,  Jack,  and  I'll  pull  up  a 
salmon." 

Now,  the  baby  did  not  understand  a  single 
word  about  "  feeling  a  bite,"  or  "  pulling  up  a 
salmon,"  but  he  liked  to  hear  Rocksy  talk ;  and 
so  he  sat  still  in  the  head  of  the  cradle,  and 
listened  with  every  appearance  of  satisfaction  and 
pleasure. 

"  Now,  Jack,  let  out  the  rope  a  little.  —  Pay 
away,  Jack ;   pay  away." 

Here  Rocksy 's  mother  went  and  looked  out 
ihe  window,  and  said,  with  a  deep  sigh, 

"  O  dear  me !  how  it  storms  1 " 

"  I've  got  another  fish,  Jack,"  continued  Rock- 
sy ;  "  here  he  comes  ;  it  is  a  mackerel,  —  or  elso 
i  perch.     I  don't  know  but  that  it  is  a  perch." 

Her  mother  came  back  to  her  work  ;  but  pretty 
oon  she  went  to  the  window  again. 

"  Now,  Jack,  there  are  no  more  fishes  here." 
laid  Rocksy  ;  "  we'll  sail  away  to  another  place." 
\nd   so   she   began    to    rock    the    cradle,    and 


THE    STORY    OF     ROCKSY.  S7 

make  believe  sail  away.  She  looked  up,  at  the 
same  time,  and  saw  her  mother  looking  out  the 
window  very  earnestly,  with  her  hands  on  each 
side  of  her  face,  to  shade  her  eyes  from  the  light 
of  the  fire,  which  was  shining  in  the  room. 

"  What  are  you  looking  at,  mother  ? "  said 
Rocksy. 

"  O,  it's  dreadfully  dark  ! "  said  her  mother, 
"  Why  don't  he  come  ? " 

She  said  this  to  herself;  for  she  did  not  notice 
that  Rocksy  had  spoken  to  her. 

Rocksy  stopped  the  cradle  a  moment,  and 
looked   at   her   mother. 

"  Mother,"  she  said,  "  I  don't  think  he  will  be 
cast  away ;  he  said  he  was  not  afraid  of  the 
storms." 

Her  mother  did  not  answer,  but  continued 
gazing  out  of  the  window.  The  baby,  finding 
that  the  play  was  suspended,  began  to  be  un- 
easy ;    and  so  Rocksy  said, 

"  Well,  well,  Jack,  we'll  sail  along." 

So  she  began  to  rock  the  cradle  violently,  pre- 
tending   that  they  were  out  in  a  terrible  storm. 

"  O  Jack,"  said  she,  "  the  winds  and  wavei 
are  terrible.  It  is  a  hurricane  :  we  shall  upset  j 
I  verily  believe  we  shall  upset." 

And,  true  enough,  they  did  upset ;  for  Rocksy 


88 


pushed  the  motion  of  the  cradle  so  far  as  to  lose 
its  balance ;  and  over  it  went  forwards,  pitching 
both  herself  and  her  brother  out  upon  the  floor. 

Rocksy  was  hurt,  and  the  baby  was  frightened  ; 
so  they  both  cried.  Their  mother  came  and 
took  them  up,  and  soothed  and  quieted  them. 
Then  she  undressed  the  child,  and  put  him  in  the 
cradle  to  go  to  sleep,  and  stationed  Rocksy  by 
his  side,  to  rock  him. 

By  and  by,  her  mother  had  got  the  supper  all 
ready  by  the  fire,  and  she  said  she  was  going  to 
put  on  her  cloak,  and  go  down  to  the  shore,  to  see 
if  she  could  hear  anything  of  her  husband. 

"  I  wish  you  would  let  me  go  with  you,  mother," 
said  Rocksy. 

"  O  no,"  said  her  mother.  "  You  must  not 
go.  I  want  you  to  stay  and  rock  the  cradle  till 
I  come  back.     I  shall  not  be  gone  long." 

But  she  was  gone  long,  —  very  long. 

Rocksy  waited  patiently  at  the  cradle  until 
her  little  brother  was  asleep,  and  then  she  thought 
it  was  not  worth  while  to  rock  him  any  longer ; 
but  still,  as  her  mother  had  told  her  to  rock  him 
until  she  came  back,  she  would  not  leave  her 
past.  By  and  by,  she  began  to  be  very  sleepy 
herself;  and  she  said,  "  O,  I  do  wish  my  mother 
would  come, — or  else  my  father."      But  thev 


THE    STORY    OF    ROCKSY.  89 

did  not  either  of  them  come  for  a  long  time. 
The  reason  was  this : 

When  Rocksy's  mother  went  out,  she  found 
that  the  wind  and  the  rain  were  terrible.  It  was 
pretty  dark,  too,  but  not  so  dark  as  it  seemed  to 
be  when  she  looked  out  at  the  window.  It  gen- 
erally looks  darker  out  of  doors,  when  we  look 
out  of  the  window  in  the  evening,  than  it  really 
is.  Rocksy's  mother  knew  her  way  down  to  the 
shore  very  well.  There  was  a  path ;  and,  besides, 
she  could  hear  the  sea  roaring,  and  she  knew,  by 
that,  which  way  to  go. 

When  she  got  to  the  beach,  she  listened ;  but 
she  could  not  hear  anything  but  the  noise  of  the 
winds  and  the  waves.  She  then  thought  she 
would  go  down  on  the  Point.  The  Point  was  a 
ledge  of  rocks  which  extended  out  into  the  sea, 
and  sheltered  the  water  which  was  near  the 
beach.  There  were  rocks  and  breakers  out  at 
the  end  of  it.  She  was  afraid  that  her  husband's 
boat  was  dashed  upon  the  rocks  and  breakers. 
There  was  a  path  which  led  down  to  the  Point. 
It  was  a  pretty  long  walk ;  but  she  went  on  per- 
se veringly  until  she  got  to  the  extremity  of  it. 
The  winds  roared,  and  the  waves  dashed  against 
the  rocks  dreadfully.  She  listened,  but  she  could 
not  hear  anything  of  her  husband.  She  wished 
8* 


90 

that  she  had  a  match  and  some  wood,  to  build  a 
great  fire  on  the  rocks,  so  that  her  husband 
might  see  it,  and  thus  find  his  way  in  from 
the  sea. 

Presently  she  thought  she  must  go  back  and 
take  care  of  her  children.  So  she  turned  around 
towards  the  shore,  and  walked  along  the  path 
She  walked  on  until  she  came  to  a  low  place, 
where  the  path  went  across  a  narrow  neck  of 
land.  She  found  that  the  water  had  risen  and 
overflowed  this  place.  The  storm  had  made  the 
water  rise  very  high.  She  had  never  known  the 
path  to  be  overflowed  by  the  water  before.  She 
was  very  much  frightened.  She  could  not  get 
back  to  her  children,  and  she  did  not  know  what 
she  should  do. 

She  had  to  stay  here  many  hours.  She  got 
into  a  sheltered  place  among  the  rocks,  where 
she  was  not  much  exposed  to  the  wind  and  rain. 
Here  she  waited  for  the  water  to  go  down ;  but 
it  only  rose  higher  and  higher. 

She  thought  the  storm  was  abating ;  but  it 
was  not  abating.  The  reason  why  she  thought 
t  was  abating  was,  that  she  was  upon  the  shel 
tered  side  of  the  Point,  and  under  the  shelter  of 
the  rocks,  besides.  The  water  was  pretty  smooth 
near  her ;  but  around  upon  the  other  side  of  th« 


THE    STORY    OF    ROCKSY.  91 

Point,  it  roared  and  dashed  upon  the  rocks  ter- 
rifically. So  the  storm  continued,  and  the  tide 
was  rising ;  and  both  together  kept  the  water  so 
high,  that  Rocksy's  mother  could  not  get  home. 

By  and  by,  about  midnight,  she  thougnt  she 
heard  a  rattling  noise.  It  sounded  like  the  rat 
tling  of  a  rope.  Then  she  thought  she  heard  the 
sound  of  oars.  She  started  up.  She  thought 
that  perhaps  it  was  her  husband  coming  home. 
She  called  aloud  to  him.  He  answered.  Then 
she  knew  it  was  her  husband.  He  had  just  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  in  to  the  land.  He  was  very 
much  surprised  to  find  her  there.  She  told  him 
that  she  had  come  down  to  the  rocks  to  look  for 
him,  and  now  she  could  not  get  back,  because 
the  water  was  so  high.  So  he  brought  his  boat 
up  to  the  rocks  where  she  was  standing,  and  took 
her  in.  Then  he  earned  her  safe  to  the  landing- 
place,  and  they  both  got  out  and  went  up  to  the 
house,  almost  exhausted,  and  wet  with  the  rain. 

They  found  both  the  children  asleep.  The 
baby  was  in  his  cradle,  where  they  had  left  him  ; 
and  Rocksy  had  sunk  down  upon  the  floor,  with 
her  head  upon  a  little  cricket,  and  one  hand  still 
upon  the  cradle.  She  had  rocked  her  brother  as 
long  as  she  could  possibly  keep  awake ;  and  even 


92  lucy's  stories. 

when  she  went  to  sleep,  she  did  not    lake  away 
tier  hand. 

"  Is  that  the  end  ?  "  said  severa  voices  at  once, 
when  Mary  Jay  stopped  reading. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mary  Jay,  "  that  is  the  end." 

" Is  there  any  picture? "  asked  Jane. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Mary  Jay,  "  two." 

The  children  all  gathered  up  around  Mary  Jay 
to  see.  She  spread  open  the  great  book  in  her 
lap,  and  showed  them  the  pictures.  The  first 
was  a  picture  of  the  shore,  with  the  fisherman's 
house  upon  it,  and  the  boats  fastened  in  their 
places.  Rocksy  and  the  baby,  were  playing 
upon   the   beach. 

Lucy  had  supposed  that  the  book  was  a  printed 
nook,  while  Mary  Jay  was  reading  ;  but  while 
she  was  looking  at  the  picture,  she  found  that  it 
was  written  with  a  pen.  The  picture,  too,  was 
not  a  printed  picture ;  it  was  painted,  —  in  beauti- 
ful colors. 

After  the  children  had  looked  at  this  picture 
long  enough,  Mary  Jay  turned  over  the  leaf,  and 
showed  them  another.  It  was  a  view  of  the  in- 
tenor  of  the  fisherman's  cottage  at  night.  It 
looked  dark,  only  there  was  a  little  blaze  of  fire 


THE    ST0R1     OF    ROCKSY. 


,*3 


upon  the  hearth,  which  flashed  about  the  room. 
Rocksy  was  asleep,  with  her  head  upon  the  crick- 
et and  her  hand  upon  the  cradle 

The  children  looked  on  a  moment  in  silence  j 
and  at  length  Mary  Jay  said, 

"Was   not  she  a   good,   faithful,   trustworthy 

gin?" 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  said  all  the  children. 


94  luct's  stories. 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

ROYAL'S  STORY. 

One  day,  when  Lucy  was  about  five  years  old, 
she  was  sick.  She  was  not  very  sick,  —  only  a 
little  sick,  just  so  that  they  could  not  let  her  go 
out  of  doors. 

Lucy  looked  out  of  the  window  for  some  time, 
to  see  them  get  in  the  large  yellow  pumpkins 
from  the  garden.  Then  she  played  with  her 
picture-books  a  little  while.  After  that,  she  did 
not  know  what  to  do.  She  came  and  stood  by 
her  mother,  who  was  sewing. 

And  she  said,  "  Mother,  I  wish  I  knew  what 
to  do." 

And  her  mother  said,  "  I  think  you  had  better 
lie  down  upon  the  sofa  a  little  while,  and  go  to 
sleep."  But  Lucy  said,  "  O  mother,  I  am  not 
sleepy ;  I  am  only  tired  of  not  having  anything 
to  do." 

Then  her  mother  told  her  that,  if  she  were  to 
Lie  down  upon  the  sofa,  she  would  probably  go  to 


HOY  At/ S    STORY.  96 

sleep  after  a  little  while,  and  then,  when  she 
waked  up  afterwards,  she  would  feel  better. 

So  her  mother  went  and  brought  a  pillow,  and 
put  it  upon  the  sofa,  and  laid  Lucy  down,  with 
her  head  upon  the  pillow. 

Then  her  mother  said  that  she  would  come  and 
sit  near  her  while  she  went  to  sleep ;  and  she 
brought  her  chair  up  near  to  the  sofa,  and  put  her 
work-basket  upon  the  sofa,  next  to  Lucy's  feet. 
Then  she  told  Lucy  to  shut  her  eyes  and  lie  still, 
and  that  she  would  probably  soon  go  to  sleep. 

So  Lucy  shut  her  eyes  ;  but  she  could  not 
keep  them  shut  very  still.  Her  eyelids  quivered 
a  little,  because  she  was  not  sleepy.  It  was  hard 
for  her  to  keep  them  shut.  Presently  she  opened 
her  eyes  a  little,  just  to  see  whether  her  mother 
had  gone  away.  But  her  mother  was  sitting  still 
close  by  her  side. 

A  few  minutes  after  this,  she  opened  hei  eyes 
wide,  and  wanted  her  mother  to  tell  her  a  story, 
while  she  was  going  to  sleep ;  but  her  mother  said 
no.  She  wanted  her  to  lie  perfectly  still,  and  go 
to  sleep  in  silence. 

Presently  Lucy  said,  "  Mother,  I  can  keep  my 
eyes  shut  prstty  well  now."  Her  mother  did  not 
answer,  b'U  she  looked  at  Lucy's  eyes,  and  ob- 
served that  the  quivering  of  the  eyelids  had  ceased 


96  lucy's  stories. 

Lucy  began  to  like  to  lie  still  upon  the  sofa.  She 
felt  that  she  was  resting  beautifully.  A  very 
pleasant  feeling  of  forgetfulness  seemed  to  c«me 
over  her.  Instead  of  wishing  to  get  up,  she 
began  to  wish  not  to  be  disturbed ;  her  mind 
wandered ;  her  thoughts  seemed  to  float  away ; 
and  she  gradually  sank  into  forgetfulness  and 
slumber. 

She  did  not  awake  until  more  than  an  hour 
afterwards.  But  she  did  not  know  that  any  time 
had  passed ;  for  when  children  are  asleep,  they 
are  not  often  conscious  of  the  lapse  of  time. 
When  Lucy  opened  her  eyes,  she  saw  her  mother 
sitting  before  the  sofa,  sewing,  just  as  she  had 
been  when  she  lay  down ;  and  just  beyond  was 
Lucy's  little  table,  with  a  large,  shallow  tin  pan 
on  it.     Lucy  wondered  what  it  could  be. 

She  asked  her  mother  what  was  in  that  tin  pan. 
Her  mother  told  her  it  was  soap  and  water. 

"  And  what  is  it  for  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  for  you  to  blow  bubbles  with,  if  you 
would  like  it,"  said  her  mother. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy  ;  and  she  began  to  get  up, 
very  much  pleased.  Then  she  asked  her  mother 
how   the  pan  and  the  table   came  to  be  there. 

"I  brought  it  here  while  you  were  asleep," 
said  her  mother. 


royal's  story.  97 

::  Why,  mother !  "  said  Lucy ;  "  have  I  been 
asleep  ? " 

Her  mother  told  her  that  she  had  been  asleep 
more  than  an  hour. 

Lucy  was  much  surprised  to  hear  this ;  and  she 
got  up  immediately  to  blow  her  bubbles.  She 
found  a  pipe  in  the  pan,  the  handle  resting  upon 
the  side. 

Lucy  enjoyed  herself  very  much  blowing  the 
bubbles.  Her  mother  showed  her  how  to  shake 
them  off  from  the  pipe,  so  as  to  let  them  sail 
through  the  air.  After  a  little  practice,  Lucy 
succeeded  very  well  in  liberating  them  from  theii 
attachment  to  the  pipe.  When  they  fell  upon 
the  carpet,  Lucy  would  blow  them  along  with  hei 
breath  ;  and,  after  she  got  tired  of  blowing  in  that 
way,  she  asked  her  mother  to  let  her  have  the 
bellows  to  blow  them  with.  This  plan  succeeded 
finely.  She  could  diow  them  along  very  easily 
with  the  bellows.  Sometimes  she  would  get  three 
or  four  bubbles  at  a  time  upon  the  carpet,  and 
then,  by  giving  them  a  good  puff  with  the  bel- 
lows, she  would  make  them  roll  off  together  in 
al.  directions. 

Just  at  this  time,  Lucy's  brother  Royal  came 
in.  Royal  was  a  pretty  good  boy,  only  he  was 
9 


98  LUCY'S    STORIES. 

sometimes  a  litlle  rough  with  his  sister.  This  is 
a  very  common  fault  among  boys. 

"  Ah,  Lucy,"  said  he,  as  soon  as  he  came 
in,  "  what  have  you  got  now  ?  Let  me  have  the 
pipe  ;  I'll  show  you  how  to  blow." 

Lucy  was  just  dipping  her  pipe  into  the  pan, 
to  blow  a  new  bubble  ;  but  she  said  no,  she  wanted 
to  blow,  herself. 

Royal  came  up,  and  took  hold  of  the  pipe,  as 
if  he  was  going  to  take  it  out  of  her  hands,  and 
said, 

"  Just  a  minute,  Lucy.  Let  me  have  it  a 
minute,  and  I'll  blow  you  a  bubble  as  big  as  your 
head." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  clinging  to  the  pipe. 

"  And  all  full  of  rainbows,"  persisted  Royal. 

"  No,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  want  it  myself." 

Royal  did  not  consider  that  Lucy's  enjoyment 
did  not  consist  in  the  mere  size  and  colors  of  the 
bubbles,  but  in  the  pleasure  of  blowing  them 
herself. 

Just  at  this  *ime,  Lucy's  mother  turned  arouuc, 
and  said, 

"  Royal,  you  must  not  disturb  Lucy." 

"  Why,  mother,"  said  Royal,  "  I  only  want  to 
Dlow  her  a  golden  ball." 


ROYAI/S    STORY.  101 

Royal  used  to  call  the  bubbles  which  were  so 
.arge  as  to  show  a  great  variety  of  splendid  col- 
ors, golden  balls. 

"  No,"  said  his  mother ;  "  I  got  those  things 
for  Lucy's  amusement,  and  you  must  let  her  do 
wttA  them  just  what  she  pleases." 

So  Royal  let  go  of  the  pipe,  and  Lucy  went 
on  blowing. 

"  I'll  show  you  how  I  blow  it  along  the  car- 
pet; *  said  Lucy,  when  she  stopped  a  moment,  to 
take  breath. 

"  Let  me  blow  it,"  said  Royal. 

But  Lucy  wanted  to  blow  it  herself.  So  she 
snook  off  the  bubble,  and  when  it  had  fallen  to 
tne  floor,  she  took  up  the  bellows,  and  gave  it  a 
little  puff,  which  set  it  a  rolling  along  towards 
itoyal.  It  struck  his  foot,  and  then  broke  and 
disappeared,  at  which  both  Royal  and  Lucy 
laughed  aloud,  with  great  appearance  of  delight. 

At  length,  Lucy  let  Royal  take  the  bellows, 
while  she  kept  the  pipe  ;  and  so  he  would  blow 
the  bubbles  along  the  carpet,  as  fast  as  Lucy 
dropped  them  down.  By-and-by,  he  contrived 
to  blow  the  bubbles  before  they  touched  the  floor ; 
and  at  last  he  had  a  way  of  holding  the  bellows 
under  them,  and  blowing  them  up  into  the  air. 
When   they  found    thev   could    succeed  in    ma- 


1 02  1.UCY  S    STORIES. 

king  the  bubbles  go  up,  they  kept  conti&uaUy 
calling  upon  their  mother  to  look.  It  was,  "  O 
see,  mother,  see ! "  and  "  Look  !  look  quicK  ! 
mother,  look !  "  very  frequently  indeed. 

"  Yes,  1  see,"  said  their  mother.  "  Thev  go 
beautifully,  only  I  should  think  you  would  be 
very  tired  of  holding  the  bellows  in  such  a  posi- 
tion." 

"  I  am,  mother,  —  they  are  such  heavy  bel- 
lows. I  should  think  the  bubbles  might  go  up  of 
themselves." 

"  If  you  could  find  a  place  where  there  is  a 
natural  current  of  air  upwards,  and  could  shake 
off  your  bubbles  there,  they  would  go  up  of  them- 
selves." 

Here  Royal  put  down  his  bellows,  and  came 
to  his  mother,  and  said, 

"  Well,  mother,  where  is  there  any  such  a 
place?" 

"  I  know  of  one  place ;  but  you  can't  get  at  it, 
very  well." 

"Where,  mother?  I  guess  I  can  get  at  it," 
said  Royal. 

"  Just  over  the  top  of  the  chimney,  upon  the 
house,"  his  mother  answered.  "  The  hot  air, 
which  comes  up  from  the  fire,  goes  out  there,  and 
rises  quite  high." 


103 


"  Well,  mother,"  said  Royal,  very  eagerly,  "  I 
*an  get  up,  I  know." 

"  O  no,"  said  his  mother. 

"  Yes,  mother,  —  I  can  get  a  ladder.     I  know 
where  there  is  a  ladder,  just  right." 

"  O  no,"  said  his  mother  ;  "  it  would  be  pre- 
posterous.    Besides,  there  is  no  fire  in  die  fire 
place  now." 

"  There  is  in  the  kitchen,  mother,"  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,  and  then,  —  now  I  think  of  it,  —  I  be 
Iieve  the  air  always  draws  up  through  a  chimney, 
whether  there  is  a  fire  in  it  or  not.     You  may 
take  away  the  fire-board,  and  shake  off  your  bub 
bles  in  the  chimney,  and  see  if  they  will  go  up." 

The  children  immediately  made  preparations 
for  trying  this  experiment  ;  and  they  found,  after 
one  or  two  unsuccessful  attempts,  that  they  could 
make  very  light  and  thin  bubbles  rise  and  disap- 
pear up  the  chimney.  Lucy  blew  the  bubbles, 
as  the  pipe  was  hers.  Royal  stood  by,  restless 
and  uneasy  >  wishing  continually  that  he  had  an 
other  pipe. 

"  You  had  a  pipe  once,"  said  Lucy. 

"  I  know  it ;  but  I  broke  it,"  said  Royal.    "  My 
pipes  always  break." 

"  Well,  I  am  afraid  you  will  break  mine,"  said 
Lucy,  "  if  I  let  you  have  it  " 


104  lucy's  stories. 

"  No,"  said  Royal,  "  I  will  be  very  careful  in- 
deed. Just  let  me  have  it  to  blow  one,  —  only 
one.  I  want  to  blow  one  monster,  —  so  big  that 
lie  can't  get  up  chimney.  Just  let  me  have  it  to 
blow  one,  and  then  I  will  give  it  right  back  to 
you  again." 

Lucy  gave  him  the  pipe,  reluctantly,  and  he 
began  to  blow.  The  bubble  broke  when  it  was 
about  as  big  as  an  orange. 

"  There,"  said  Lucy,  "  now  let  me  have  it." 

"  No,"  said  Royal ;  "  that  was  a  miss." 

"  But  you  said  one." 

"  Only  one  big  one.  I  want  to  blow  a  good 
big  one." 

So  he  began  to  blow  again.  This  time  the 
bubble  broke  when  it  was  still  smaller ;  and  just 
as  Lucy  began  to  say  that  now  Royal  must  give 
her  back  her  pipe,  he  said  suddenly, 

"  O  Lucy,  I  think  of  a  most  capital  place  to 
make  the  bubbles  go  up  —  capital." 

"  Where  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Over  the  register,  in  the  parlor." 

What  Royal  meant  by  the  register  was  this. 
There  was  a  furnace,  or  stove  set  within  brick 
walls,  in  the  cellar  of  the  house,  for  heating  the 
air  to  warm  the  house.  The  smoke  and  sparks 
all  went  off  by  a  stove  pipe  ;  but  the  hot  air  from 


royal's  story.  105 

around  the  outside  of  the  stove  came  up  through 
a  round  hole  in  the  parlor  floor.  Over  this  hole 
was  a  brass  apparatus,  by  means  of  which  it 
could  be  shut  or  opened  at  pleasure.  This  brass 
contrivance  was  called  the  register. 

Now,  in  the  winter  season,  when  there  was  a 
fire  in   the  furnace  below,  and  the  register  was 
open,  the  hot  air  always  came  up  in  a  strong  cur 
rent,  which  puffed  in  the  children's  faces,  when 
they  held  them  over  the  opening. 

So  Royal  thought  that  this  would  be  a  fine 
place  to  make  the  bubbles  go  up  ;  and  instead  of 
giving  Lucy  back  the  pipe,  he  began  to  run  off 
to  the  parlor,  calling  and  beckoning  to  Lucy  to 
follow  him. 

It  was  as  Royal  expected.  The  register  was 
a  very  fine  place  for  experiments  with  bubbles. 
The  draft  of  air  made  the  bubbles  ascend  rapidly, 
and  one  went  up  quite  to  the  wall,  where  it 
struck,  and  then  burst  in  an  instant. 

"  Now,  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  "  let  me  have  my 
pipe.     I  want  to  blow  some." 

fc  Well,"  said  Royal,  —  "only  first  let  me 
blow  one  more.  And,  first,  I'll  take  out  the 
register,  so  as  to  let  the  air  come  up  faster." 

Now,  the  register  was  made  so  as  to  take  out 
and  put  in  easily ;  and  when  it  was  out,  it  left 


106 


the  hole  entirely  open.  The  hole  was  prettj 
large,  and  it  was  round. 

Royal  blew  another  bubble ;  and  when  he  sei 
it  free  from  the  pipe,  it  rose  veiy  handsomely. 
"  See,  Lucy,  see !  "  said  he ;  "  it  goes  up  just  like 
a  balloon.     I  wish  we  had  a  car  to  it." 

"  Well,  now,  let  me  have  my  pipe,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Royal,  "  in  one  minute.  I  don't 
believe  but  that  a  bubble  will  carry  up  the  pipe 
itself,  for  a  car." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  taking  hold  of  the  pipe. 

"  Yes,"  said  Royal,  still  holding  on  to  it,  "  it 
will,  if  I  blow  a  monstrous  big  one.  It  must  be 
a  monstrous  big  one,  I  acknowledge,  Lucy.  Just 
let  me  blow  one  monster,  and  then,  £  it  does  not 
carry  the  pipe  up  hanging  at  the  bottom  of  it,  I'll 
give  you  my  little  finger." 

"  I  don't  want  your  little  finger,"  said  Lucy. 
"  I  want  my  pipe." 

Royal  had,  however,  by  this  time  begun  to  blow 
his  monster,  and  Lucy,  who  felt  some  curiosity  to 
=?ee  whether  the  bubble  would  really  carry  up  the 
pipe,  and  who,  besides,  being  a  gentle  and  peaceable 
little  girl,  was  disposed  rather  to  submit  to  Royal's 
injustice  than  to  be  very  strenuous  in  resisting  it, 
sat  quietly  by,  watching  the  great  bubble  as  it 


royal's  sTO**r.  107 

gradually  expanded  under  the  bowl  of  tne  pipe 
and  as  the  colors  glittered  and  waved  all  over  its 
surface.     At  length  she  said, 

"  There,  now,  quick,  Royal ;  it  is  just  going 
to  burst." 

Royal  at  once  very  gently,  but  very  quickly, 
withdrew  the  pipe  from  his  mouth,  and  let  go  of 
it.  At  the  same  instant,  the  bubble  burst,  and 
the  pipe  disappeared.  It  had  gone  down  the 
register ! 

"  There,  now ! "  said  Lucy,  in  a  tone  of  great 
grief  and  disappointment ;  "  now  you  have  lost  my 
pipe." 

Royal  looked  down  the  register ;  but  it  was  a 
dark  hole,  and  nothing  was  to  be  seen. 

<%  How  unlucky  it  was,"  said  he,  "  that  the 
bubble  burst  just  at  that  moment!  I  do  verily 
believe  it  would  have  carried  the  pipe  up,  Lucy, 
if  it  had  not  broke." 

Lucy  did  not  answer.  The  tears  were  fast 
coming  into  her  eyes. 

"  Don't  cry,  Lucy,"  said  Royal ;  "  you'll  get 
another  pipe  some  of  these  days." 

But  the  prospect  of  getting  another  pipe,  some 
of  these  days,  did  not  seem  to  be  sufficient  con- 
solation*,   for  Lucy   turned    away   overwhelmed 


108 


with  sorrow,  and  was  going  into  the  other  room 
to  her  mother. 

Royal  jumped  up,  and  followed  her,  and  put 
Lis  arm  round  her  neck,  and  begged  her  not  to 
cry.  "  Come,"  said  he,  "  come  with  me  to  the 
sofa,  and  I'll  tell  you  a  story.  I'll  tell  you  a 
beautiful  story  about  some  enormous  great  bub- 
bles, that  a  boy  blew  once  with  a  blacksmith's 
bellows." 

Lucy's  curiosity  was  somewhat  excited  by  this, 
and  she  suffered  herself  to  be  led,  reluctantly,  to 
he  sofa,  where  Royal  drew  her  up  near  to  him, 
and  commenced  his  story  thus :  — 

"  Once  there  was  a  boy  blowing  bubbles  out 
in  the  yard.  When  he  got  tired,  he  lay  down  on 
the  grass,  under  a  tree,  and  got  asleep.  While  he 
was  asleep,  he  dreamed ;  and  he  dreamed  about 
blowing  bubbles.  He  dreamed  that  he  had  a 
little  pond  full  of  soap-suds,  and  that  he  had  a 
pipe  with  a  bowl  as  big  as  a  barrel,  and  a  black- 
smith's bellows  to  blow  with. 

"  The  first  bubble  he  blew  was  as  big  as  a  hogs- 
nead,  and  the  second  was  as  big  as  this  room." 

"  O  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  don't  believe  it." 

"  Why,  I  didn't  tell  you  it  was  true,  Lucy ;  it 
was  only  a  dream." 

r  O  ves."  said  Lucy. 


royal's  story,  109 

"  The  great  bubble,  as  big  as  this  room,"  con- 
tinued Royal,  "had  a  splendid  great  rainbow 
round  the  middle  of  it,  —  a  hundred  colors,  —  al 
different. 

"  And  there  was  a  drop  hanging  at  the  bottom 
of  the  bubble,  which  was  big  enough  for  the  boy 
to  get  into.  So  he  said  that  he  would  have  the 
bubble  for  the  balloon,  and  the  drop  for  his  car, 
and  he  got  into  the  car,  and  sailed  away  up  into 
the  air." 

"  O  Royal !  "  said  Lucy,  "  what  a  story  !  " 

"  He  went  up,"  continued  Royal,  "  to  a  great 
height ;  and  there  an  eagle  came  flying  along,  and 
happened  just  to  touch  the  bubble  with  the  tip  of 
his  wing,  and  burst  it,  and  the  poor  boy  began  to 
fall.  He  was  terribly  frightened.  He  thought 
that  he  should  certainly  be  killed.  But  while  he 
was  falling,  he  woke  up,  and  found  himself  safe 
under  the  tree." 

Here  Royal  paused,  and  Lucy  was  silent  a 
moment,  when  at  length  she  said, 

"  And  did  any  boy  really  dream  such  a  dieam 
as  that  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Royal,  — "  it  was  only  a  stoiy  I 
made  up,  just  to  amuse  you." 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  said  Lucy.    "  I  thought  at  'east 
10 


110  lucy's  stories. 

he  really  dreamed.  But  now  how  shall  I  get  mj 
pipe?" 

"  Why,  as  to  your  pipe,  Lucy,"  said  Royal, (( J 
am  sorry  for  it,  truly,  —  but,  you  see,  you  hurried 
me,  —  that  was  the  cause.  You  told  me  it  was 
just  going  to  burst,  and  so  1  let  it  go  too  quick, 
and  made  it  burst.  I  am  convinced  that  the 
bubble  was  big  enough  to  have  carried  the  pipe 
up  ;  and  then  just  think,"  added  Royal,  with  a 
smile,  "  how  beautiful  it  would  have  looked  soar- 
ing around  the  room,  and,  at  last,  when  the  bubble 
tvent  out,  dropping  on  the  sofa." 

"  It  would  not  have  dropped  on  the  sofa,"  said 
Lucy,  looking  quite  serious  still.  In  fact,  all 
Royal's  attempts  to  amuse  her  mind,  and  make 
her  forget  her  pipe,  seemed  to  have  only  a  tempo- 
rary effect ;  and  at  last  they  both  went  out  into 
the  other  room  to  state  the  case  to  their  mother. 
Miss  Anne  was  sitting  there,  and  she  heard  the 
story  too. 

Lucy's  mother  listened  attentively  to  all  the 
particulars  of  the  case,  before  expressing  any 
opinion.  She  heard  all  that  Lucy  had  to  say, 
and  all  that  Royal  had  to  say ;  and  at  last  Royal 
concluded  by  asking,  whether,  on  the  whole,  she 
»lid   not   consider    Lucy  as   much   to   blame   as 


in 


he    was    for    dropping   the   pipe   down   in    the 
register. 

"  Why,  we  must  distinguish,"  said  their  mother, 
"  between  the  different  parts  of  the  transaction. 
There  is  your  refusal  to  give  back  Lucy  her  pipe, 
your  taking  out  the  register  without  leave,  and 
your  dropping  the  pipe.  I  don't  see  that  either 
of  you  was  to  blame  in  regard  to  the  dropping 
of  the  pipe." 

"  Neither  of  us  ?  " 

"  No ;  it  was  an  accident,  —  a  mere  accident. 
Your  letting  go  of  such  a  heavy  thing  over  a 
deep  hole,  with  nothing  to  hold  it  up  but  a  bub- 
ble, may  show  your  ignorance  of  philosophy,  — 
but  there  was  no  evil  intention  in  your  mind,  at 
that  moment,  I  suppose,  and  therefore  nothing 
like  guilt  in  it. 

"  But,  then,  as  to  your  taking  out  the  register 
without  leave,  that  was  not  right.  It  was  what 
we  call  a  misdemeanor  You  knew  that  I  do 
not  like  to  have  the  register  taken  out,  on  account 
of  the  danger  that  things  may  fall  down  into  the 
flue.  This  was  an  irregularity,  —  an  act  contrary 
to  good  order,  —  a  misdemeanor.  But  then  the 
misdemeanor  was  fully  committed  when  you  got 
the  register  fairly  out.  It  was  not  altered  by 
anything  that  took  place  afterwards.     It  was  noi 


112 


LUCY'S     STORIES. 


made  any  more  a  misdemeanor,  by  your  dropping 
the  pipe  into  the  hole  ;  nor  would  it  have  been 
any  less  a  misdemeanor,  if  you  had  not  dropped 
anything,  but  had  put  the  register  safely  back 
again,  after  you  had  done  playing. 

"  Then,  finally,"  continued  Royal's  mother, 
'*  your  refusal  to  give  Lucy  back  her  pipe  readily 
when  she  wanted  it,  was  worse  than  a  misde 
meanor.  It  was  morally  wrong.  It  was  unjust. 
We  ought  not  to  keep  rightful  owners  out  of  pos- 
session of  their  property,  just  because  we  are  the 
strongest,  and  have  the  power.  In  important 
cases  among  men,  this  is  called  oppression  and 
robbery  ;  but  the  principle  is  the  same,  and  the 
nature  of  the  moral  guilt  is  the  same  in  so  small 
a  case  as  this,  —  merely  keeping  a  pipe  a  few 
minutes  away  from  the  child  that  it  belongs  to." 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  Royal.  "  I  read  in  a 
book  once,  that  it  was  as  bad  to  steal  a  pin,  as  it 
was  to  steal  a  thousand  dollars." 

"  I  have  heard  such  things  said,"  his  mother 
answered,  "  but  I  think  it  is  a  mistake.  The 
guilt  is  the  same  in  nature,  but  less  in  degree 
It  shows  a  greater  degree  of  hardihood  and  de- 
pravity, generally,  to  commit  a  great  robbery, 
than  it  does  to  commit  a  small  one.  In  fact, 
criminals    go   on,   in    proportion    as   they   grow 


113 

more  and  more  wicked,  from  small  to  large 
crimes." 

"  I  think  so  too,  mother/'  said  Royal. 

"  So,  you  see,  your  keeping  Lucy  out  of  pos- 
session of  her  pipe,  was  morally  wrong;  the 
opening  of  the  register  was  a  misdemeanor; 
and  the  dropping  down  the  pipe,  was  only  an 
accident,  and  of  no  moral  quality  whatever. 

"But,  then,"  she  continued,  "you  must  ob- 
serve that,  although  it  was  an  accident,  still  it 
>vas  your  accident,  and  not  Lucy's ;  and  of  course 
you  ought  to  bear  the  loss. 

"  How,  mother  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"  Why,  by  buying  Lucy  another  pipe  with 
your  money." 

"  What,  when  it  was  only  an  accident,  and  1 
was  not  to  blame  1 " 

"  Certainly ;  we  often  meet  with  losses  from 
accidents.  And  every  one  must  bear  their  own. 
Once  I  went  a  shopping,  and  took  you  with  me 
when  you  were  a  very  small  boy ;  and  when  we 
were  in  a  crockery  store,  and  I  was  busy  looking 
a»t  some  tumblers,  you  got  my  parasol,  arid  hooked 
the  little  crook  at  the  end  of  it  into  the  handle 
of  a  pitcher  upon  the  counter,  and  pulled  it 
down." 

Royal  laughed  aloud  at  this  anecdote  of  ono 


114 


LUCY  S    STORIED. 


of  his  earlier  years.  Even  Lucy  seemed  a  little 
amused 

"  Did  it  break,  mother  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  O  yes,  all  to  pieces,"  said  she.  "  Now 
there  was  an  accident ;  nobody  was  to  blame ; 
but  then " 

u  Why,  I  should  think  that  J  was  to  blame," 
?a\d  Royal. 

"  No,  you  did  not  know  that  it  would  break." 

"  Why,  how  big  was  I  ? " 

"  O,  only  just  big  enough  to  run  about." 

Here  Royal  laughed  again,  loud  and  long,  — 
too  much  delighted  with  the  stoiy  itself  to  listen 
to  the  application  which  his  mother  intended  to 
make  of  it  to  the  present  argument.  However, 
when  his  glee  had  in  some  measure  subsided,  his 
mother  added, 

•'  Now,  that  was  an  accident ;  bwt  then  it  was 
ny  accident,  not  the  shopman's ;  and  so  I  imme- 
liately  paid  for  the  pitcher." 

"  Well,  mother,"  said  Royal,  "  I'll  buy  Lucy 
another  pipe.  I've  got  some  money  in  my  box  up 
stairs.  I'll  take  a  cent,  and  go  and  buy  you  ore 
this  afternoon,  Lucy.  Two  ;  I'll  buy  yc*i  two 
I  can  get  two  for  a  cent,  —  beautiful  ones,  with 
twisted  stems." 

Lucy  wiped  away  the  remains   of  her  tears 


royal's  story.  I  15 

and  began  to  look  quite  pleased  at  this  prospect 
Then  in  a  minute  she  began  to  advance  towards 
Royal,  playfully,  and  said, 

"  Well,  there's  one  thing  I  know,  —  I've  go* 
your  little  finger." 

"  My  little  finger  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Lucy  ;  "  you  said  that  if  the 
pipe  did  not  go  up,  you'd  give  me  your  little 
finger." 

"O  dear  me,"  said  Royal,  pretending  to  be 
much  concerned  at  the  loss  of  his  little  finger. 
"What  shall   I  do?" 

"Yes,  it  is  mine,"  said  she;  "give  it  to  me. 
I'm  going  to  carry  it  off.  I  have  a  right  to  do 
what  I've  a  mind  to  with  it.  I  mean  to  pinch  it, 
and  tie  a  string  round  it,  as  tight  as  1  can." 

So  Lucy  took  hold  of  his  little  finger,  and 
dragged  him  off  by  it  into  the  parlor,  to  find  a 
string,  Royal  all  the  time  pretending  to  hang 
back,  and  saying,  "  O  !  O  !  "  in  a  comical  tone, 
and  Lucy  laughing  with  all  her  heart. 

When  they  were  gone,  Miss  Anne  said, 

"  I  rather  think  that  when  Royal  was  little,  \\p 
was  pretty  much  such  a  boy  as  he  is  now." 

"  Yes,"  said  his  mother,  "  pretty  much    tht> 


116 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE   MOROCCO   BOOK   AGAIN 

Lucr  learned  a  good  deal  more  about  the  Mo- 
rocco Book  the  next  day  after  Mary  Jay  had  read 
the  story  of  Rocksy  out  of  it.  The  children  told 
her  that  some  time  before,  when  she  first  came  to 
the  school,  she  used  to  write  stories  for  them  in 
little  books,  and  upon  sheets  of  paper,  until,  at 
last,  one  day  the  teacher  made  her  a  present  of 
the  great  Morocco  Book,  to  copy  her  stories  into. 

"  Then  what  did  she  do  with  the  little  books  ?  " 
said  Lucy. 

"  O,  she  gave  some  of  them  to  us,"  said  Man- 
elle ;  "  she  gave  me  one  about  Alice." 

"  I  wish  you  would  read  it  to  me  some  day," 
said  Lucy. 

"  Well,"  said  Marielle,  "  I  will,  —  in  some 
recess." 

Marielle  did,  some  days  after  this,  read  her  the 
story  of  Alice,  —  as  will  be  more  particularly 
described  in  the  latter  pnrt  of  this  volume.  Be- 
fore that  time,  however,  Mary  Jay  read  to  the 


THE  MOROCCO  BOOK  AGAIN.      117 

girls,  at  different  times,  several  stories  from  the 
Morocco  Book ;  the  first  of  which  was  called  th« 
Stormy  Evening,  and  was  as  follows:  — 


THE   STORMY   EVENING. 

FROM     THE     MOROCCO     BOOK. 

One  stormy  evening,  little  Jane  came  up  to  hbi 
grandmother,  who  was  sitting  in  a  great  arm-chair 
in  the  corner,  and  kneeled  down  upon  her  cricket, 
and  rested  her  arms  in  her  lap.  Her  grandmothei 
was  knitting.     She  looked  down  upon  Jane,  and 


"  Well,  Jenny,  have  you  come  to  bid  me  good 
night  ? " 

"  O  no,  grandmother,"  said  Jane ;  "  it  is  not 
time  for  me  to  go  to  bed  yet.  I  have  come  for 
you  to  tell  me  a  story." 

"  A  story  !  "  said  her  grandmother,  — "  O,  1 
lave  forgotten  all  my  stories." 

"  Well,  tell  me  something,"  said  Jane. 

"Let  me  see,  —  I  will  tell  you  about  this 
stormy  evening.  Do  you  know  what  makes  this 
storm  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Jane. 

"  Whv,  there  is  a  great  ocean  of  air,  above 


118 


us  and  around  us,  which  is  all  moving  swiftly 
along,  sweeping  over  the  forests,  and  valley Sj 
and  tops  of  the  mountains.  It  comes  from  the 
cold  north,  and  the  moisture  which  is  in  it  is 
chilled,  and  is  turned  into  snow,  and  falls  con- 
tinually down  to  the  ground.  The  wind  roars 
through  the  forests,  and  whistles  around  the 
houses,  and  drives  the  snow,  with  a  click,  click, 
against  the  windows.  And  yet  here,  in  our  warm 
house,  and  by  our  comfortable  fire,  we  are  sheltered 
and  protected  from  it  completely." 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  said  Jane. 

"  Why,  we  are  covered  from  it,  so  that  the  wind 
does  not  blow  upon  us." 

"  O  yes,"  said  Jane ;   "  well ;  go  on." 

"  Puss  is  asleep,"  continued  her  grandmother, 
"  before  the  fire,  with  her  chin  upon  her  paws  for 
a  pillow.  You  have  been  reading  your  book  by 
the  table,  and  1  am  here  knitting,  at  my  ease ; 
and  the  vast  torrents  of  wind  and  driving  snow 
sweep  by  us  without  doing  us  any  harm  at  all. 
This  is  one  stormy  evening  scene;  out  there 
are  a  great  many  others  very  different  from  this, 
en  different  parts  of  the  world." 

"  What  are  they,  grandmotht  r  ?  "  asked  Jane. 

"  Why,  there  is  a  different  scene  at  the  lonely 
farmer's  cabin  in  the  woods.     The  fanner  lights 


ftlE    MOROCCO    BOOK    AGAIN.  119 

hrs  lantern,  and  goes  out  to  his  barn,  to  feed  his 
horses  and  his  oxen.  His  little  son  goes  with 
mm.  and  holds  the  lantern  for  him,  standing  upon 
the  ladder,  while  his  father  pitches  down  the 
hay.  They  then  go  back  into  the  house,  wading 
through  the  snow ;  the  little  children  are  lying 
upon  the  floor  asleep,  with  their  feet  towards  the 
fire ;  and  the  snow,  which  drives  through  the  crev- 
ices in  the  walls,  and  around  the  windows  and 
uoor,  forms  little  drifts  upon  the  floor.  But  in 
the  mean  time  a  blazing  fire  glows  and  crackles 
in  the  great  stone  fireplace,  and  the  family  are 
contented  and  happy. 

"  The  stonuy  evening  presents  another  scene 
at  sea.  The  ship  heaves  and  tosses  over  the 
great  waves.  The  sky  is  dark,  —  the  wind  howls 
tnrough  the  icy  rigging.  A  few  men  walk  about 
the  deck,  or  lean  over  the  bulwarks,  cold,  and  wet, 
and  tired,  and  one  stands  at  the  helm,  watching 
the  compass,  which  is  lighted  by  a  little  lamp  in  a 
box  before  him,  and  which  tells  him  which  way 
to  steer.  They  are  all  waiting  for  midnight, 
when  they  hope  the  storm  will  lull." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  lull  ? "  asked  Jane. 

"  Why,  that  the  w'nd  will  not  blow  so  hard," 
laid  her  grandmother. 

"  The  stormy  evening  presents  another  scene  n 


120  LtJCY's    STORES. 

she  continued,  "  in  the  lonely  places  among  the 
mountains.  There  it  is  all  silence  and  solitude. 
Not  a  living  thing  is  to  be  seen.  The  birds  have 
"flown  away,  —  the  squirrel  is  in  his  deep  hole, 
under  the  ground;  the  leaves  have  fallen  from 
the  trees,  and  the  wind  moans  gloomily  through 
the  desolate  branches ;  —  but  there  is  no  ear  to 
hear  it,  and  no  eye  to  see  the  vast  piles  of  snow 
which  gather  under  the  craggy  rocks,  and  bury 
the  trunks  of  the  old,  fallen  trees. 

"There  is  another  scene  presented  by  the 
stormy  evening,  when  a  traveller  is  out  alone 
upon  a  solitary  road,  and  finds  it  difficult  to  make 
out  his  way  through  the  trackless  and  unbroken 
snow.  The  fine  flakes  drive  into  his  face,  and 
the  keen  wind  makes  his  ears  tingle.  His  horse 
sometimes  rears  and  plunges,  when  he  gets  deep 
into  the  drifts,  and  then,  a  moment  afterwards,  at 
the  summit  of  a  little  hill,  he  drags  the  grating 
irons  of  the  sleigh  runners  over  the  bare  and 
frozen  ground.  The  weary  traveller  strains  his 
eyes  to  catch  a  glimmer  of  light  from  some  house 
by  the  way-side,  where  he  at  least  may  ask  how 
much  farther  it  is  to  the  end  of  his  journey.', 

"  Yes,"  said  Jane,  "  and  he  might  ask  them  to 
let  him  stay  all  night,  and  then  go  home  the  next 
morning." 


THE    MOROCCO    BOOK    AGAIN.  121 

"  So  he  could,"  said  her  grandmother. 

"  The  stormy  evening,"  she  continued,  "  pre- 
sents another  scene  in  the  great  city.  The 
coachmen,  wrapped  in  rough  great-coats,  drive, 
tnrough  the  loose  snow,  up  to  the  doors  of  the 
great  houses,  to  take  the  ladies  to  their  visits. 
.The  shopkeepers'  boys  shovel  and  brush  the 
snow,  that  has  already  fallen,  off  the  side-walks, 
by  the  bright  gas  light  which  streams  through  the 
great  panes  of  the  shop  windows ;  and  then  they 
put  up  the  shutters  and  go  in.  The  merchant, 
who  has  just  finished  reading  the  news  which 
came  in  by  the  evening  mail,  buttons  up  his 
wrapper,  and  goes  towards  his  home ;  and,  as  he 
turns  the  corner  of  the  street,  and  the  wild  blast 
of  the  storm  strikes  him  in  all  its  fury,  he  hopes 
that  his  ship  is  well  off  the  coast.  The  school- 
boy drags  his  sled,  half  buried  in  the  snow,  to  the 
door  in  the  brick  wall  which  leads  to  the  court- 
yard of  his  father's  house,  and,  entering,  disap- 
pears ;  while,  at  the  same  instant,  the  lamp-lighter 
is  just  climbing  up  his  little  ladder  to  the  top 
of  the  lamp-post  outside,  and  lights  the  lamp  with 
his  blazing  torch,  which  flashes  upon  the  fresh 
snow,  and  upon  the  sides  of  the  lofty  buildings." 

Here  Jane's  grandmother  stopped. 

"  Is  that  all,  grandmother  ?  "  said  Jane. 
11 


122 


"Why,  that  is  all  I  think  of  now.  Though 
there  is  one  more  scene  that  I  can  imagine.  \ 
can  imagine  that  little  Jane  takes  her  lamp,  bids 
her  father  and  mother  good  night,  and  goes  to  hei 
trundle-bed.  She  draws  the  comforter  up  to  hei 
chin,  and,  after  praying  to  Almighty  God  to  take 
care  of  her,  she  falls  asleep,  and  dreams  of  sli- 
dings  and  sleigh-rides  all  night,  while  the  wind 
blows  as  it  will." 

Here  Jane's  grandmother  paused  again. 

"  Tell  me  a  little  more,"  said  Jane. 

"  No,"  said  her  grandmother,  "  no  more ;  but 
now  let  me  hear  how  well  you  remember  what  I 
have  told  you.     Tell  me  all  about  it." 

"  Well,  grandmamma,"  said  Jane,  "  if  you  will 
take  me  up  in  your  lap." 

So  Jane's  grandmother  took  her  up  in  her  lap 
and  Jane  began  as  follows  :  '■ — 

"  Once  there  was  a  man,  —  travelling,  —  no 
let's  see;  how  does  it  begin,  grandmother?" 

"  O,  go  on  ;  you  are  beginning  very  well." 

"  Well,  —  he  rode  over  a  little  hill,  and  saw 
a  house,  —  and " 

Here  Jane  began  to  be  very  restless,  and  to  move 
is  if  she  was  trying  to  get  down  ;  and  she  said, 

"  O  dear  me  !  I  am  so  tired  of  telling !  " 

Here  Jane's  grandmother  began  to  laugh  out- 


THE    MOROCCO    BOOK    AGAIN.  123 

right,  and  she  tickled  Jane,  as  she  slid  down  upon 
the  cricket,  and  said, 

"Ah  ha!  you  are  a  fine  little  auditor,  here 
you  have  forgotten  all  my  story." 

Jane  struggled,  and  pulled,  and  tried  to  get 
away,  making  the  room  ring  all  the  time  with  her 
merry  peals  of  laughter,  saying,  ell  the  time, 

"  O  no,  grandmother,  I  have  not  forgotten ; 
I  have  not  forgotten,  grandmother.  I  haven't 
forgotten." 

Her  grandmother  paid  no  attention  to  what 
she  said,  but  kept  up  the  frolic  by  leaning  over 
and  holding  her  down,  and  playfully  shaking  and 
squeezing  her,  until,  at  length,  Jane  rolled  over 
upon  the  carpet,  and  scrambled  off  out  of  her 
reach. 

As  soon  as  she  was  at  a  safe  distance,  she  as- 
sumed a  sober  look,  and  turned  around,  and  said, 

"  I  have  not  forgotten,  grandmother,  certainly 
[  can  tell  you  a  great  deal." 

"  Well,"  said  her  grandmother,  "  come,  then, 
and  tell  me." 

So  Jane  came  again,  and  took  her  seat  in  her 
grandmother's  lap,  to  begin  again. 

"  Now,"  said  her  grandmother,  "  describe  the 
scene  at  the  farmer's  cabin  on  a  stormy  evening." 

rt  Well,  —  the  farmer  goes  out  to  the  bam  to 


124 

feed  his  oxen,  a.ad  the  ship  tosses  about  upon  the 
waves  —  and  —  and " 

"  Well,  that  will  do  for  that,"  said  her  grand- 
mother. "  Now  tell  me  about  the  scene  in  the 
city." 

"  In  the  city  ?  "  asked  Jane. 

"  Yes,"  answered  her  grandmother. 

"  Let  me  see  ;  —  was  that  about  the  ship  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  her  grandmother. 

"  O,  I  remember  now,"  said  Jane  "  It  was 
about  the  Jack-o-lantern,  —  and  the  drivers.  — 
They  go  with  their  horses  to  let  the  ladies  take 
their  visits.  I  should  like  to  have  a  ride  in  such 
a  coach  as  that,  —  if  they  had  four  horses,  —  or 
five.  I  think  they  had  about  four.  Well,  and 
the  boy  lights  the  lamps  with  his  candle-lantern, 
and  wishes  that  his  ship  was  away  off;  and 
that  is  all  that  I  can  remember." 

So  Jane  jumped  down,  and  ran  away,  while 
her  grandmother,  after  having  a  goal  hearty 
laugh,  went  on  with  her  knitting. 


A    DIALOGUE.  125 


CHAPTER    X. 

A   DIALOGUE. 

There  were  some  dialogues,  as  well  as  sto- 
res, in  the  Morocco  Book.  One  was  named  The 
Quagmire.     It  was  as  follows:  — 

THE    QUAGMIRE. 

Scene  I.  —  A  wild  road  near  the  margin  of  a 
wood.  Laura,  George,  and  their  Father  and 
Mother,  with  a  horse  and  chaise. 

Laura.     Where  are  your  raspberries,  George  ? 

George.  I  have  put  them  here  in  the  chaise  ; 
and  I  will  put  yours  in,  too,  as  soon  as  I  have 
unfastened  the  horse. 

Father.  Now,  children,  I  am  going  to  walk 
home  ;  and  you,  George,  may  drive  your  mother  : 
and  as  for  you,  Laura,  which  will  you  do,  —  ride 
with  them,  or  walk  with  me  ? 

Laura.     Why,  —  which  would  you  do,  father/ 
Will  you  let  me  drive  a  little,  George  ? 
11* 


126  lucy's  stories. 

George.  Yes,  you  may  drive  a  little  wajf 
when  we  get  up  by  the  blacksmith's. 

Laura.     Well,  then,  I  will  nil 

Father.  Hold  him  a  minute,  George,  while  I 
help  mother  in. 

Mother.  Wait.  I'll  put  the  small  basket  oe- 
hind  the  great  one.     There. 

Father.     Now,  Laura 

Laura.  But,  father,  you  will  be  all  abaa 
I  believe,  on  the  whole,  I  will  walk  with  you.  -  - 
Which  tvould  you  do  ? 

Father.  You  must  decide.  It  is  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  fancy.  You  must  not  walk  to  keep  me 
company.  I  shall  have  company  enough.  Do 
just  which  you  prefer. 

George.  Come,  Laura,  —  in ;  I'm  wait- 
ing. 

Laura.  Well,  father,  —  which  road  are  vou 
going  ? 

Father.     Along  the  bank. 

Laura.     And   over   the  brook,  by  the  great 

Father.     Yes,  where  you  almost  tumbled  in. 

Laura.  Well,  father,  I'll  walk.  Perhaps  I 
shall  see  some  more  little  fishes. 

George.  Well,  good  by,  then,  Laura ;  stand 
back  from  the  wheel      Come,  Jack. 


THE    QUAGMIRE.  127 

Laura.  I've  a  great  mind  to  ride.  Take 
good  care  of  my  raspberries,  George. 

Father.  Come,  Laura ;  now  they've  gone, 
we'll  walk  along  at  our  leisure. 

Laura.  Yes,  father.  Pve  a  great  mind  to 
run  and  take  hold  behind  the  chaise  till  they  get 
up  the  hill.  George!  look  around  here,  and 
see  us. 

George.  Ah,  Laura,  you'll  wish  you  had 
concluded  to  ride. 

Father.  Mind  your  driving,  George,  and 
whip  up. 

Laura.     Father,  I  wish  I  had  rode. 

Father.  Well,  Laura,  it  isn't  too  late ;  but 
then  you'd  lose  the  fishes. 

Laura.  No,  I'll  walk.  I  can  ride  at  any 
time.  He  may  go.  George,  which  way  do  you 
think  you  shall  go  ? 

George.  Round  by  the  mill,  and  then  across 
through  the  woods.  But  I  can't  talk  to  you  any 
more ;  I  must  whip  up. 

Laura.  Now,  father,  after  all,  I'm  sorry  that 
]  didn't  ride.  I  like  very  much  to  ride  through 
the  woods.  Last  time  we  went,  we  saw  a  squirrel 
there.     I'll  call  him. 

Father.  No,  Laura,  it  is  too  late  now. 
You've  decided. 


128  lucy's  stories. 

Laura.  No,  father,  I'll  run.  I  can  stop  him 
I  can  call  very  loud.  George  !  George  !  Mother ! 
George ! 

Father.  No,  Laura.  Laura,  come  back; 
the  wheels  make  too  great  a  rattling.  You  must 
walk  now. 

Laura.  O  father  !  He  won't  stop.  How  1 
wish  I  had  got  into  the  chaise !  He  wouldn'* 
rtop,  and  yet  I  know  he  heard  me.  He  wouldn't 
;top,  and  now  I  can't  ride. 

Father.  No,  you  can't  ride  now.  You  had 
your  choice ;  and  ycu  chose  to  walk  with  me. 
You  can't  ride,  but  you  can  go  over  the  great 
log,  and  see  the  fishes. 

Laura.  But,  father,  I  don't  care  about  the 
fishes.  I've  seen  them  already.  I  don't  care 
about  the  fishes.  I  wanted  to  ride,  and  now  I 
shall  have  to  walk  all  the  way  home,  and  I 
shall  get  so  tired  !  O  dear  me  !  Why  didn't  he 
stop? 

Scene  II.  —  A  parlor.     The  tea-table.     Laura, 
George,  and  their  Father. 

Laura.  Now,  George,  you've  dropped  my 
doll  out  of  the  window. 

George.     She  jumped.     I   verily  believe  she 


THE    QUAGMIRE.  131 

jumped.     I'll  go  and  get  her.     She  has  fallen  be- 
hind the  rose-bush. 

Laura.  Ah,  father,  I  am  glad  to  see  you 
nutting  away  your  book.  Now  if  you  will  only 
tell  me  a  story. 

Father.  Very  well ;  come  and  sit  in  my  la  p 
here,  and  look  out  the  window,  and  I'll  tell  you 
the  story  of  a  man  and  a  quagmire. 

Laura.     What  is  a  quagmire,  father  ? 

George.  Here  is  your  doll,  Laura.  —  A  quag- 
mire ?  I  know  what  a  quagmire  is.  It  is  a  kind 
of  a  swamp. 

Laura.  Then  why  don't  they  say  swamp,  at 
once  ?    and  I  should  understand. 

Father  Because  it  is  not  exactly  the  same. 
A  quagmire  is  a  very  deep,  miry  swamp,  or  part  of 
a  swamp.  —  And  now  for  my  story.  —  Once  there 
was  a  quagmire;  and  the  road,  when  it  came 
near  it,  turned  off  and  went  by  it  on  one  side. 
There  was  a  turnpike  also,,  which  branched  off 
from  the  old  road,  and  went  by  on  the  other  side. 

Laura.     What  is  a  turnpike  ? 

George  Why,  —  a  turnpike?  Laura,  don't 
you  know  what  a  turnpike  is  ?  It  is  a  kind 
of  a  straight  road. 

Laura.     Is  it,  father  ? 

Father.     Yes,  a  turnpike  is  generally  straightev 


132 


and  nearer  than  the  old  road,  and  you  have  to 
pay  a  little  money  to  go  over  it.  Now,  wnen 
this  man  came  to  the  place  where  the  old  road 
branched  off  from  the  turnpike,  he  said  tu  him- 
self, "  Now,  which  way  shall  I  go  ?  The  turn- 
pike is  the  nearest,  and  the  old  road  is  pleasa.itest. 
I'll  go  the  old  road."  So  he  turned  into  the  old 
road.  "  But  no,"  said  he ;  "I  am  in  some  haste, 
and  I  believe  I'll  take  the  turnpike."  So  he 
turned,  and  went  back  around  the  guide-post,  into 
the  turnpike. 

Laura.     Around  what  guide-post  ? 

George.  Why,  Laura,  —  you  see,  —  there 
was  a  guide-post,  where  the  roads  branched  off, 
>— I  suppose. 

Father.  Yes.  When  the  man  had  gone  into 
the  turnpike  a  little  way,  he  said  to  himself, 
"  But  now,  if  I  go  in  the  turnpike,  I  shall  have  to 
pay  ;  and  I  am  not  enough  in  a  hurry  to  make  it 
worth  while  to  pay.  I've  a  great  mind  to  go 
back  again  to  the  old  road." 

Laura.  O,  what  a  man !  But.  father,  buw 
much  would  he  have  to  pay  ? 

Father.     Only  a  little,  —  perhaps  a  few  cents. 

Laura.     Well,  father,  go  on. 

Father.  The  man  then  said  that  he  would 
tonally  decide  to  go  by  the  old  road ;  and  he  went 


A    DIALOGUE. 


133 


oack  around  the  guide-post  once  more,  and  began 
to  walk  along  briskly.  He  had  not  gone  very  far, 
however,  before  he  began  to  doubt  whether  it 
would  not  have  been  better  to  have  gone  by  the 
turnpike.  "  I  was  rather  foolish  to  give  up  the 
nearest  road  just  to  save  two  or  three  cents."  So 
he  turned  around,  and  began  to  look  back  ;  but  it 
was  so  far  to  the  guide-post,  that  he  thought,  on 
the  whole,  he  had  better  keep  on.  But  after 
going  a  few  steps  farther,  he  concluded  that  he 
would  go  across  through  the  woods,  and  cut  ofl 
the  corner,  —  and  so  get  into  the  turnpike  again 
by  a  nearer  way. 

Laura.     O,  father,  what  a  man  ! 

Father.  He  accordingly  climbed  over  the  wall, 
and  went  into  the  woods.  Before  long,  he  began 
to  get  into  the  quagmire,  though  he  contrived  to 
go  on  by  walking  upon  mossy  logs,  and  stepping 
upon  hummocks  and  tufts  of  grass.  But  it  was 
hard  work  and  slow,  —  and  says  he,  "  I  did  not 
think  of  the  quagmire.  If  I  had  recollected 
that  there  was  a  quagmire  here,  I  would  not  have 
attempted  to  come  across.  I  believe  now  1  had 
better  go  back." 

Laura.     I  think  so  too. 

George.  I  would  not  go  back,  —  I  would  pot 
change  any  more,  if  the  mud  was  up  to  my  chin 


134  lucy's  stories. 

Father.  He  turned  around,  and  went  back  a 
few  steps,  though  not  exactly  by  the  same  way 
that  he  came.  There  were  fewer  good  places  to 
step.  Presently  he  reached  a  hummock  which 
was  pretty  firm,  and  he  stopped  a  minute  to  look 
around  and  consider.  Says  he,  "  It  would  have 
been  better  for  me  to  go  on.  I  think  it  likely 
I  had  got  half  through  the  quagmire  ;  and  at  any 
rate  it  was  foolish  to  turn  back.  I'll  push  on 
now  I  am  in,  and  get  through  to  the  turnpike." 
So  he  stepped  off  of  the  hummock  in  the  direc- 
tion towards  the  turnpike. 

George.  Ho  !  —  what  a  man !  I  don't  believe 
he'll  ever  get  out  of  the  quagmire. 

Father.  He  had  now  turned  around  so  many 
times,  that  he  had  got  a  good  deal  bewildered. 
In  fact,  he  hardly  knew  which  way  to  go.  The 
ground  grew  softer  and  softer,  too,  and  he  began 
to  sink.  He  jumped  forward  to  a  green-looking 
spot,  which  he  hoped  was  solid ;  but  it  was 
nothing  but  long  grass,  —  and  he  went  into  the 
mud  up  to  his  knees.  And  here  he  had  to  stay, 
railing  for  help,  until  somebody  came  and  helped 
him  out.  [George  and  Laura  fell  into  an  vmr 
moderate  fit  of  laughter.] 

George.     Father,  that  story  isn't  true,  is  it  ? 

Father      I  believe  I  did  not  say  it  was  true. 


THE     QUAGMIRE.  135 

Laura.  I  don't  believe  it  is  true,  father.  It 
must  be  one  that  you  made  up.  And  I  know 
what  you  mean.  You  mean  me,  father,  I  know 
you  do. 

Father.  You !  Why  did  you  ever  get  into 
such  a  quagmire? 

Laura.     No,  father,  not  exactly. 

Father.  Well,  I'll  tell  you  how  you  can 
always  keep  out  of  one. 

Laura.     How,  father? 

Father.  Make  it  a  rule,  whenever  you  have 
once  decided  what  to  do,  never  to  reconsider  the 
question,  and  change  your  mind,  unless  something 
uew  and  extraordinary  comes  to  your  knowledge 
io  make  it  necessary. 


136  lucy's  siojutti. 

CHAPTER    XI. 

SABBATH    DAY. 

Lucy  was  sometimes  very  much  at  a  loss  to 
know  what  to  do  in  the  latter  part  of  the  after- 
noons, on  the  Sabbath  day.  She  generally  went 
to  meeting  in  the  first  part  of  the  afternoons  ;  for, 
in  the  country  where  she  lived,  going  to  church 
was  commonly  called  going  to  meeting.  After 
the  meeting,  Lucy  did  not  always  know  what  to 
do.  She  did  not  know  how  to  read,  and  he/ 
mother  did  not  like  to  have  her  play. 

One  Sabbath  afternoon,  she  had  been  sitting  in 
Miss  Anne's  room,  looking  at  a  picture-book  fo; 
some  time,  while  Miss  Anne  had  been  reading. 
At  last  she  put  down  her  book,  and  came  to  Miss 
Anne,  and  said, 

"  Miss  Anne,  1  wish  you  would  tell  me  some- 
thing to  do.     I  au1  tired  of  locking  at  pictures." 

"  Well,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  and  I  am  tired  of 
reading ;  so  1  will  take  you  up  in  my  lap,  and  tell 
you  the  story  of  Victor's  Meeting." 


SABBATH    DAY.  137 

So  Miss  Anne  took  Lucy  up,  and  commenced 
the  story  as  follows :  — 


VICTOR'S   MEETING. 

One  Sunday  afternoon,  little  Victorine  was 
sitting  by  the  fire,  reading,  when  her  brother  Vic- 
tor came  to  her,  and  put  his  little  hand  gently 
upon  her  cheek,  and  said, 

"  Reeny,"  —  he  often  called  her  Reeny,  —  it 
was  a  sort  of  contraction  of  Victorine,  —  "lain 
going  to  have  a  meeting ;  will  you  be  my  congre- 
gation ?  " 

In  the  part  of  the  world  where  Victor  lived 
going  to  church  was  generally  called  going  to 
meeting. 

Victorine  looked  around,  into  the  middle  of  the 
room,  and  she  saw  that  her  little  brother  had 
made  all  his  preparations  for  a  meeting.  He  had 
one  chair,  with  a  cricket  upon  it,  for  a  pulpit. 
The  large  Bible  was  lying  open  upon  the  cricket, 
and  there  was  a  hymn-book  by  its  side.  In  front 
of  the  pulpit,  at  a  little  distance  from  it,  were  three 
other  chairs  in  a  row,  with  a  music-book  and  the 
bellows  upon  one  of  them.  This  was  the  sing- 
ing gallery.  On  each  side  between  the  pulpit 
and  the  gallery,  chairs   were   arranged   for   the 


138 


walls  of  the  meeting-house  ;  and  vrahin  Victor 
had  placed  two  or  three  small  chairs  and  crickets 
for  the  congregation  ;  and  now  he  wanted  his  sis- 
ter to  come  and  be  his  congregation. 

Victorine  looked  for  a  minute  or  two  at  his  ar- 
rangements, and  then  said, 

"  Why,  yes,  I'll  be  your  congregation." 

Victor  then  ran  back  to  his  meeting-house, 
while  Victorine  turned  her  eyes  again  to  her  book, 
and  went  on  with  her  reading. 

Presently  Victor  began  to  say,  "  Ding-dong, 
ding-dong,  ding-dong,"  several  times;  and  then, 
after  pausing  a  moment,  he  said, 

"  Come,  Reeny,  —  why  don't  you  come  ?  the 
bell  is  ringing." 

But  Victorine  was  so  much  interested  in  her 
book  that  she  did  not  notice  her  brother's  call. 

"  Victorine !  Victorine !  why  don't  you  come  ? " 

Victorine  looked  up,  and  said, 

"  O,  it  will  do  just  as  well  for  me  to  sit  here. 
I  can  hear  just  as  well  here." 

"  No,"  said  Victor ;  and  he  came  back  to 
where  his  sister  was  sitting,  and  took  hold  of  her 
arm,  and  said, 

11  No,  you  must  come  and  sit  in  the  meeung- 
Itouse.  The  congregation  always  sit  in  the  meet- 
ing-house." 


victor's  meeting  139 

"  No,  not  always,"  said  Victorine. 

"  When  do  they  not  ? "  asked  Victor. 

"  Why,  sometimes  the  meeting-house  is  crowd- 
ed, and  so  they  cannot  all  get  in.  We  will  play 
that  the  meeting-house  is  crowded." 

"  No,"  said  Victor,  "  that  will  not  do."  He 
understood  that  this  was  only  an  excuse  of  his 
sister's  for  not  coming  ;  and  so  he  insisted  that 
she  should  come  and  sit  in  the  proper  place. 

Victorine  then  slowly  got  up,  and  suffered  her 
brother  to  lead  her  into  his  meeting-house,  and 
place  her  upon  a  cricket  there. 

"  Why,  you  have  got  a  very  good  meeting- 
house ;   but  what  are  those  chairs  there  ? " 

"  They  are  the  singing  gallery,"  said  Victor. 

"  And  what  are  the  bellows  here  for  ?  I  never 
saw  bellows  in  a  singing  gallery." 

"  O,  that  is  the  base  viol,"  said  Victor.  "  They 
are  going  to  play  on  that,  when  I  give  out  the 
hymn." 

His  sister  smiled ;  but  she  took  her  seat,  and, 
while  Victor  was  turning  over  the  leaves  of  his 
Bible  to  find  the  place,  she  opened  her  book,  and 
began  to  read  again. 

"  Why,  sister ! "  said  Victor.  "  You  must  not 
read.     People  do  no*  read  in  meeting." 

"  O  yes,"  said  Victorine.    m  I  am  willing  to 


140 


sit  here  and  be  your  congregation,  but  he:i  you 
must  let  me  go  on  with  my  reading." 

Here  was  a  serious  difficulty.  Victorine  waj 
very  much  interested  in  her  book,  and  she  thought 
that  Victor  was  unreasonable,  in  wishing  to  have 
her  give  it  up.  But  he  could  not  think  of  such  a 
thing  as  having  any  of  his  congregation  reading 
in  meeting.  At  last,  Victorine  said  that  then 
she  would  go  away  ;  and,  accordingly,  she  went 
oack  to  her  seat,  and  Victor  began  to  cry. 

Now,  their  father  was  reading  by  the  side  of 
the  fire,  opposite  to  where  Victorine  was  sitting ; 
and  he  looked  up,  and  asked  what  was  the  matter. 
After  hearing  an  explanation  of  the  rase,  he  told 
Victor  that  he  was  unreasonable.  "  Reeny  was 
very  kind  to  be  willing  to  go  and  sit  in  your  con- 
gregation," said  he ;  "  but  you  ought  not  to  expect 
her  to  give  up  her  own  pursuits  and  enjoyments 
entirely,  and  come  and  sit  down  idle  before  you. 
And  then,  besides,  when  you  found  that  she  was 
not  willing  to  come,  you  did  wrong  to  fret  and 
cry,  and  disturb  us  all  in  our  reading." 

For  there  were  several  of  Victor's  brothers  and 
sisters  in  the  room,  reading,  besides  Victorine. 

Then  Victor's  father  told  him  that  he  must  put 
a  J  the  chairs  and  books  back  into  their  places, 
and  give  up  his  meeting  altogether. 


victor's  meeting.  141 

Victor  begged  his  father  to  allow  him  to  go  on 
witn  his  meeting  alone ;  but  he  would  not  His 
father  made  it  a  rule  that,  whenever  he  did  anything 
m  the  parlor  to  disturb  the  family,  he  must  suffer 
some  inconvenience  or  privation ;  and  this  made 
him  generally  careful  and  still  in  his  plays. 

Victor  put  back  the  chairs ;  but  he  did  it  very 
slowly  and  reluctantly,  and  was  evidently  much 
out  of  humour.  After  he  had  done  this,  his  father 
told  him  to  take  a  cricket,  and  go  and  sit  down  by 
the  kitchen  fire,  till  he  felt  good-natured  again ; 
and  he  said  that  then  he  might  come  in. 

Victor  found  that  they  were  getting  supper; 
and  he  sat  and  watched  the  steam  coming  out  of 
the  nose  of  the  tea-kettle. 

Victor's  mother  was  getting  tea.  She  asked 
Victor  what  made  him  come  and  sit  down  there 
so  still. 

"Why  — ,"  answered  Victor,  hesitating,  - 
"  father  —  said  I  might." 

"  Father  said  you  might  ?  " 

"  No,  he  said  I  must" 

"  He  said  you  must  ?     What  for  ?  " 

"  Why,  he  said  I  must  come  and  stay  here  until 
1  felt  good-natured." 

"  O,  is  that  it  ? "  said  his  mother ;  "  well,  then, 
I'll  make  you  feel  good-natured  very  quick  " 


142 


Now  there  were  two  long  peacock's  feathers 
hanging  over  the  glass  in  the  kitchen,  and  Victor's 
mother  went  and  took  one  down. 

u  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  "  said  Victor. 

"  I  am  going  to  tickle  your  nose  with  this 
feather,"  said  his  mother,  "  to  make  you  feel 
good-natured." 

"  No,"  said  Victor,  laughing,  though  he  tried 
to  keep  sober. 

"  Yes,"  said  his  mother,  laughing,  without  try 
ing  to  keep  sober.  _ 

As  she  approached  with  the  feather,  extending 
the  tip  of  it  towards  him,  he  first  held  his  hand 
over  his  face,  peeping  and  smiling  through  his 
fingers ;  and  then,  as  the  feather  came  nearer  and 
nearer,  he  jumped  up  and  ran  away  in  high  glee. 
His  mother  pursued  him  across  the  room  ;  but  he 
made  his  escape  out  of  the  door  which  led  into 
the  entry.  His  mother  did  not  follow  him.  In  a 
minute  or  two,  he  came  back,  and  opened  the  door 
a  little  way,  and  peeped  in.  His  mother  was  at 
the  table  cutting  some  bread. 

"  Victor,"  said  she,  "  I  forgot  that  it  was  Sun- 
day; we  must  not  play  to-day.  But  now,  as 
you  seem  to  be  good-natured,  I  suppose  you  can 
go  back  into  the  parlor  again,  if  you  choose." 

Victor  thought  so  too.     He  accordingly  went 


victor's  meeting  143 

back,  and  asked  his  father  if  he  might  have  his 
meeting  again. 

"  Why,  I  don't  know,"  said  his  father.  "  I 
don't  like  to  have  you  play  meeting  very  well." 

"  Why  not,  father  ?  "  said  he.  "  I  will  be  care- 
ful not  to  disturb  any  body." 

"  Perhaps  you  will ;  but  I  should  rather  have 
you  play  something  else." 

"  Why,  is  it  wrong,  father,"  said  Victorine,  "  to 
play  meeting  ?  " 

"  1  don't  know  that  it  is  absolutely  wrong ;  but 
it  seems  to  be  too  serious  a  thing  to  make  sport 
of.  I'll  tell  you  what ;  you  may  collect  all  the 
children  together  on  the  sofa,  and  we  will  have  a 
real  meeting.     I  will  be  the  minister  myself." 

Victor  was  much  pleased  with  this  plan.  Af- 
ter tea,  he  placed  the  sofa  and  some  chairs  in 
order,  and  then  rang  a  little  bell,  to  call  the  chil- 
dren together.  The  children  sat  upon  the  sofa 
and  upon  little  chairs,  and  their  father  sat  before 
them,  with  the  great  Bible  in  his  lap.  First  he 
read  a  prayer  out  of  a  little  prayer-book  which  he 
had,  telling  the  children  that  they  must  listen  seri- 
ously. Then  he  let  one  of  them  stand  by  hi3 
side  and  read  a  story  in  the  Bible,  while  he  ex 
plained  it  to  them.  Then  he  let  Victor  read  two 
verses  of  a  hymn,  and  they  all  sang  it.     Then  he 


144 


LUCY'S    STORIES. 


said  that  for  a  sermon  he  would  explain  to  them 
the  Savior's  golden  rule  —  "  Whatsoever  ye  would 
that  others  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so 
unto  them." 

"  Is  that  your  text  ?  "  said  Victor. 
"  Yes,"  said  his  father,  "  that  is  the  text." 
Then  he  explained  the  text  to  them,  and 
showed  them  how  excellent  a  rule  it  was,  and  told 
them  of  the  various  ways  in  which  children  often 
break  it.  The  discourse  was  very  interesting  and 
profitable.  After  the  sermon  was  ended,  he  said 
that  they  would  sing  another  hymn.  He  then  se- 
lected a  hymn  in  the  hymn-book,  and  let  one  of 
the  boys  read  it,  and  then  they  all  sang  it.  There 
were  four  verses.  After  the  singing  was  over, 
the  meeting  was  dismissed,  and  the  children  weni 
away,  all  excepting  Victor,  who  remained,  at  his 
father's  request,  to  trundle  back  the  sofa,  and  put 
away  the  chairs. 

"  Is  that  all  ? "  said   Lucy,  when  she  found 

that  Miss  Anne  paused,  as  if  she  had  finished  the 

story. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  is  all." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  think  that  is  a  very 

good  plan.     I  wish  you  would  have  a  meeting 

some  time,  Miss  Anne,  for  me." 


SABBATH   DAY.  145 

"  I  hardly  know  whether  ft  is  proper  for  young 
ladies  to  hold  meetings,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"Well,  it  will  be  proper  for  my  father,"  said 
Lucy,  ' '  at  any  rate.  I  mean  to  ask  my  father. 
But  will  you  be  one  of  the  congregation,  Miss 
Anne?" 

uO  3res,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "I  will  very 
cheerfully  be  one  of  the  congregation." 


'46  LUCl's    STORIES. 


CHAPTER    XII 
RACHEL. 

Z9    LUCY' *     M  »T1TI 

Once  there  was  a  little  girl  named  Rachel 

She  was  about  six  years  old.  She  had  a  great 
many  books  and  playthings,  but  they  were  lying 
about  in  various  places  all  over  the  house. 

One  day  she  went  to  see  her  cousin.  Her 
cousin's  playthings  were  all  together,  upon  some 
shelves.  They  were  arranged  in  order.  "  O 
dear !  "  said  Rachel,  "  how  much  prettier  play- 
things look  when  they  are  arranged  in  order !  I 
wish  1  had  some  shelves." 

A  few  days  after  this,  she  was  at  home  one 
afternoon,  when  there  was  no  school.  She  did 
not  know  what  to  do.  She  had  nobody  to  play 
with.  She  could  not  go  out  of  doors,  because  it 
rained.  At  last  she  said,  "  I  know  what  to  do. 
I  will  go  and  put  my  playthings  in  order." 

She  went  up  into  a  rough  chamber  over  the 
sheet  where  there  were  some  boxes.     She  put 


RACHEL.  147 

down  one  of  the  boxes  against  the  side  of  the 
chamber,  with  the  open  side  out.  Then  she  put 
another  box  upon  the  top  of  it.  So  site  could 
put  her  playthings  in  the  boxes,  which  answered 
for  shelves. 

First,  she  got  her  blocks.  She  had  a  great 
many  blocks.  Some  were  in  the  kitchen,  some 
were  in  the  closet,  some  were  in  a  basket  under 
the  table  in  the  parlor.  One  was  under  the 
clock.  Rachel  had  put  it  under  the  clock  some 
days  before,  to  play  that  it  was  a  mouse. 

Rachel  collected  all  her  blocks  together,  anu 
carried  them  up  to  her  shelves.  She  piled  them 
up  neatly  upon  the  lower  shelf  at  one  end. 
They  made  a  large,  square  pile. 

"  There,"  said  she,  "  I  am  glad  that  I  have 
got  all  my  blocks  together,  in  one  place." 

Then  she  brought  her  doll ;  and  she  looked  all 
about  the  house,  and  found  all  the  doll's  clothes, 
and  she  put  them  together  in  a  shelf  above. 

"  Now,"  said  she,  "  when  my  cousin  come? 
here  to  play  with  me,  and  we  want  to  play  with 
my  doll,  I  shall  find  her  and  all  her  things  heie. 
That  will  be  very  convenient." 

Next  Rachel  thought  she  would  put  her  books 
in  order  So  she  went  down  stairs,  and  began  to 
look  for  her  books.     She  found  them  «n  various 


148  lucy's  stories. 

places,  some  on  shelves,  some  in  closets,  and  some 
on  the  parlor  floor.  She  brought  them  all  up  into 
the  rough  chamber,  and  began  to  put  them  to- 
gether neatly  in  a  pile. 

Pretty  soon  she  observed  a  droll  picture  in  one 
of  her  books.  It  was  a  picture  of  a  dog  jumping 
up.  She  thought  she  would  read  about  it.  So 
she  sat  down  upon  the  floor  before  her  boxes,  and 
began  to  spell  out  the  words  under  the  picture. 

While  she  was  there,  her  mother  came  up  into 
the  chamber  to  look  for  something  in  a  great  bag. 
While  she  was  looking  for  it,  Rachel  said, 

"  Mother,  what  does  this  word  spell  ?  —  m,  - 
there  are  one,  two,  three  m?s  in  it,  and  two  a?s." 

" I  think  it  must  be  mamma"  said  her  mother. 
"  But  what  are  you  doing,  Rachel  ?  " 

"O,  I  am  putting  my  things  in  order,"  said 
Rachel. 

Then  her  mother  came  to  see  what  she  was 
doing. 

"  O,"  said  she,  "  I  am  very  glad  to  see  this. 
It  is  a  fine  plan  for  children  to  keep  their  play 
things  in  order." 

So  Rachel's  mother  came  to  see  her  work,  and 
she  said  she  liked  the  plan  very  much  indeed 
and  she  told  her  that  she  would  give  her  a  curtain 
to  hang  up  before  her  shelves. 


RACHEL.  149 

Her  mother  then  went  back  to  the  bag,  and 
took  out  a  green  roll.  When  she  unrolled  it,  Ra- 
chel saw  it  was  a  curtain.  Rachel  took  it,  and 
then  went  and  brought  a  few  small  tacks  and  a 
carpet  hammer,  and  nailed  her  curtain  up.  Then 
she  finished  arranging  her  books,  and  put  them  in. 
Thus  she  had  a  very  convenient  cabinet;  and 
she  resolved  that,  after  that,  she  would  always 
keep  her  things  in  order  in  it. 

That  night,  at  supper,  Rachel  told  her  mother 
that  she  liked  her  cabinet  very  much,  and  she 
said  she  had  made  a  resolution  always  to  keep  her 
things  in  order  in  it. 

"Ah,"  said  her  mother,  "  but  that's  a  very 
hard  resolution  to  keep." 

"  O  no,"  said  Rachel,  "  I  think  it  will  be  veiy 
easy.  All  1  have  to  do  is  just  to  put  my  things 
back  in  their  places  when  I  have  done  with  them." 

"  Yes,"  said  her  mother,  "  that  is  all ;  but  that 
is  a  great  deal." 

"O  no,  mother,"  said  Rachel,  "that  is  not 
much." 

"  Well,"  said  her  mother,  "  we  shall  see." 

It  turned  out  in  the  end  that  her  mother  was 
right;  for  in  about  two  weeks  Rachel's  play- 
things  were  scattered  all  over  the  house  again, 


150 


LUCY  S    STORIES. 


as   much   as  before.     And  the  way  they  came 
to  be  so  was  this :  — 

The  day  after  she  had  put  them  in  order,  ?h« 
brought  her  blocks  down  in  a  basket,  to  play  witn 
in  the  entry.  At  last,  she  got  tired  of  playing 
with  the  blocks,  and  she  thought  she  would  go 
out  in  the  kitchen,  and  see  if  she  could  not  get  an 
apple  to  roast  by  the  kitchen  fire.  So  she  left 
her  blocks  upon  the  carpet.  Presently  her  moth- 
er put  the  blocks  into  the  basket,  and  slid  them 
under  a  shelf  in  the  closet;  and  thus  it  was 
that  her  blocks  got  out  of  place. 

A  day  or  two  after  that,  she  wanted  a  book  to 
read  ;  and  so  she  went  up  to  her  cabinet,  and, 
when  she  had  pulled  the  curtain  aside,  she  took 
all  her  picture-books,  and  brought  them  down 
stairs.  She  put  them  upon  the  table,  and  got 
a  chair,  and  sat  up  to  the  table,  and  began  to  look 
them  over,  to  find  one  to  read.  After  she  had 
been  reading  a  little  while,  the  supper  bell  rang ; 
and  so  she  jumped  down,  and  ran  off  to  suppc* 
After  supper,  she  forgot  that  she  had  left  her  book* 
upon  the  table  ;  and  when  her  mother  was  arran- 
ging the  table  that  evening,  for  her  evening  work, 
she  put  the  books  upon  a  shelf  in  the  closet ;  and 
that  is  the  way  her  books  got  out  of  place. 

And  one  dav  Rache1  thought  she  would  take 


RACHEL.  151 

her  doll  down  stairs,  and  let  her  go  out  to  walk  ; 
so  she  led  her  out  upon  the  grass  in  the  yard,  and 
played  that  she  was  taking  a  walk.  When  she 
thought  that  her  doll  was  tired  of  walking,  she  let 
her  lie  down  upon  the  grass  to  rest.  Presently  a 
butterfly  came  along,  and  Rachel  ran  off  to  catch 
him.  The  butterfly  flew  over  the  fence  into  the 
garden ;  and  Rachel  went  in  at  the  gate,  and  tried 
to  find  him.  She  could  not  find  the  butterfly  ; 
but  she  found  her  mother  there  gathering  some 
flower  seeds.  She  stopped  to  help  her  ;  and  her 
mother  gave  her  some  seeds,  which  she  said  she 
meant  to  put  away  upon  her  shelves,  in  little 
papers.  But  she  put  them  on  the  kitchen  table, 
when  she  went  in,  and  forgot  them. 

A  few  days  after  this,  her  cousin  William  came 
to  see  her.  She  took  him  up  stairs  to  show  him 
her  shelves  and  playthings.  She  took  out  the 
things  one  by  one,  and  showed  them  to  William, 
and  then  put  them  on  the  floor.  William  took 
out  some  of  the  things  too.  She  was  going  to 
put  them  all  back  again  before  she  went  away. 
Presently  she  said,  "  But  where  are  all  mj 
books  ?  Somebody  has  taken  away  all  my 
books.  I  put  them  here  on  the  corner  of  this 
shelf.  They  ought  not  to  come  and  take  away 
my  books." 


152  lucy's    STORIES. 

And  presently  she  said  again, 

"  And  now,  besides,  where's  my  doll  gone  * 
They  have  carried  off  my  doll.  I  wish  they  wou!  J 
let  my  things  alone,  when  I  put  them  here." 

"  I  rather  think  you  carried  her  away  yourself/'' 
said  William. 

"No,  I  didn't,"  said  Rachel ;  «  1  left  her  here, 
—  exactly  here." 

Then,  in  a  minute,  she  happened  to  recollect  that 
she  had  taken  her  doll  out  to  walk,  and  said, 

"  O  no,  —  I  remember  now.  I  left  her  on  the 
grass.  Come  with  me,  William,  and  I  will  show 
you." 

So  William  and  Rachel  ran  down  to  find  the 
doll.  She  was  lying  in  the  grass,  where  Rachel 
had  put  her.  She  was  soaked  with  the  rain ;  and 
when  Rachel  took  her  up,  she  found  that  there 
were  two  great  crickets  hid  under  her.  Rachel 
said  it  was  no  matter ;  it  would  not  hurt  her  doll, 
for  she  was  used  to  being  left  out  in  the  rain. 
So  she  carried  her  in,  in  order  to  dry  her  by 
the  kitchen  fire. 

The  next  evening,  after  tea,  Rachel's  mother 
said  to  her, 

"  Rachel,  you  remember  that  you  told  me,  tho 
ether  day,  that  you  had  made  a  resolution  to  keep 
four  shelves  always  in  order." 


RACHEL.  153 

11  Yes,  mother,"  said  Rachel. 

14  And  I  told  you  that  you  would  find  it  a  very 
hard  resolution  to  keep." 

"  Yes,  mother,  I  recollect  that  you  did." 

44  Well,  now,  it  is  not  a  great  many  days  since 
then,  and  yet  your  establishment  is  all  in  confu- 
sion. Your  doll  is  in  the  table  drawer  in  the 
kitchen.  Your  blocks  and  your  books  are  down 
in  the  parlor  closets  ;  and,  as  I  went  through  the 
rough  chamber  this  afternoon,  I  saw  that  the  rest 
of  your  playthings  were  all  in  confusion  about 
the  floor." 

"  Well,  mother,"  said  Rachel,  "I  was  going  to 
put  them  up,  but  I  had  to  go  and  look  for  my 
doll." 

Rachel's  mother  did  not  reply  to  this  very  un- 
satisfactory excuse.     She  only  said, 

14  It  is  not  a  very  difficult  thing  to  put  things  in 
order.  But  to  keep  them  in  order  requires  a 
great  deal  of  steady  perseverance,  energy,  and 
decision." 


64 


CHAPTER    XIII 

MARIELLE'S  LITTLE    BOOK 

Marielle  had  told  Lucy,  some  time  beforr 
this,  that,  when  Mary  Jay  got  her  great  Moroccc 
Book  to  put  her  stories  in,  she  gave  away  to  the 
children  several  of  the  little  books  which  she  had 
made  before,  after  having  first  copied  them  into 
the  Morocco  Book ;  and  that,  among  other's,  she 
had  given  Marielle  one,  called  the  Story  of  Alice. 
iVIarielle  had  promised  Lucy  that  she  would,  some 
day,  show  her  this  little  book,  and  lead  her  tLe 
story. 

Now,  Marielle  lived  at  the  house  where  the 
school  was  kept;  and  the  gaiden  where  they 
played,  was  her  father's  gaiden.  And  one  day 
she  told  Lucy  that  her  mother  was  going  to  invite 
Miss  Anne  and  Lucy  to  come  and  take  tea  there 
the  next  afternoon ;  and  then  she  would  read  her 
the  story  of  Alice. 

The  invitation  was  accordingly  given,  and  Mis* 
Anne  and  Lucy  went.     They  went  very  early 


MAR1LLLF;S    LITTLE.    BOOK.  IBS 

because  they  wanted  to  ramble  an  hour  or  two 
about  the  garden  and  grounds. 

After  they  had  been  in  the  house  about  half  an 
hour,  Miss  Anne,  Marielle,  and  Lucy,  went  out 
to  take  a  walk.  Marielle  said  that  she  wanted  to 
take  them  away  down  beyond  the  garden,  by  the 
shore  of  a  brook,  where  Lucy  had  never  been. 
They  walked  about  in  the  garden  for  some  time. 
Lucy  showed  Marielle  the  great  pear-tree,  and 
the  summer-house,  and  the  arbor,  and  the  green 
square,  where  the  children  used  to  play  hide-and- 
seek. 

After  they  had  seen  all  these  places,  they  passed 
on  through  a  little  grove  of  trees  at  the  bottom  of 
the  garden,  and  then  they  went  through  a  gate  in 
the  garden  wall,  and  came  out  into  a  beautiful 
field  beyond,  where  a  broad  walk  led  along  down 
to  a  brook.  Here  was  a  seat,  where  they  sat 
down  to  rest.  Marielle  then  took  out  her  little 
book.  It  was  small,  and  had  marble  covers ;  and 
the  story  was  written  in  it  in  very  fine,  but  very 
plain  writing. 

There  was  a  picture  in  the  beginning.  It  was 
a  picture  of  a  little  girl  in  a  boat  near  the  bank 
of  a  liver.  They  all  looked  at  the  picture  for 
some  time,  before  they  began  to  read.  Miss 
Anne  seemed  to  be  very  much  interested  in  the 


I  56  LUCy's    STORlEs. 

appearance  of  the  book,  and  in  the  picture  At 
last  they  asked  Miss  Anne  to  read  the  story  to 
them,  as  she  could  read  the  best.  So  Miss  Anne 
oegan  as  follows  :  — 

THE   STORY  OF  ALICE  5  OR,  SELF-POSSESSION 

In  a  little  valley  by  the  side  of  a  river,  just 
where  there  was  a  great  curve  in  the  stream, 
there  was  a  farm  ;  the  land  consisted  of  beautiful 
intervals  near  the  river,  and  high  hill*  and  forests 
behind.  From  the  windows  of  the  farm-house, 
you  could  look  up  the  river,  or  down  the  river,  a 
great  many  miles. 

There  was  a  little  girl  that  lived  in  this  farm- 
house, named  Alice.  She  was  about  five  years 
old.  She  used  to  play  about  the  farm-yard, 
sometimes  feeding  the  chickens,  and  sometimes 
planting  corn  and  beans  in  a  little  bed  they  gave 
her  in  the  garden.  She  was  quiet  and  good-na- 
tured ;  and  so  her  father  would  often  take  her  out 
with  him  into  the  fields,  when  he  went  to  work. 
At  such  times,  she  would  play  about  upon  the 
grass,  and  take  good  care  not  to  be  in  her  father's 
way,  nor  trouble  him  by  talking  to  him  too  much 
when  he  was  busy.  She  would  talk  to  herself, 
and  -  sing   to    herself,  and  find   amusement   hi  a 


THE    STORY    OF    ALICE.  157 

thousand  ways,  without  troubling  him.  And  f» 
he  was  very  often  glad  to  have  her  go  with  hi  a. 

The  farmer  used  sometimes  to  paddle  across 
the  river  in  his  log  canoe,  to  go  to  a  village 
which  was  about  half  a  mile  from  the  opposite 
shore.  The  log  canoe  was  a  very  good  boat. 
It  was  made  of  a  very  large  log,  and  so  it  was 
big  enough  to  carry  quite  a  number  of  people.  It 
was  shaped  well,  and  it  had  three  good  seats,  and 
a  little  deck  at  the  bows.  There  were  a  paddle 
and  two  oars,  and  on  the  deck  there  was  a  pretty 
large,  round  stone,  as  big  as  a  man's  head,  with 
a  rope  fastened  to  it.  The  other  end  of  the  rope 
was  fastened  to  the  bows  of  the  boat.  This 
stone  was  the  anchor.  The  farmer  could  anchor 
his  boat  with  it  when  he  wanted  to  go  a-fishing 
anywhere  out  on  the  river,  where  the  water  was 
not  very  deep,  nor  the  current  very  rapid. 

One  day,  Alice  asked  her  father  to  let  her  go 
over  the  river  with  him,  in  his  boat.  And  he 
said  that  he  should  like  to  have  her  go  very  much. 
Only  he  told  her  that  he  could  not  let  her  go  to  the 
town  with  him.  She  would  have  to  wait  in  tho 
ooat,  he  said,  while  he  was  gone.  She  asked 
him  how  long  he  should  be  gone  from  the  boat, 
>nd  he  said  about  half  an  hour. 

M  Well,"  said  she,  "  I  can    take   on*)   of  my 


15£  lucy's  stories. 

book?,  and  look  at  the  pictures  while  you  are 
gone." 

So  she  got  into  the  canoe  with  him,  and  he 
paddled  her  over  the  river. 

When  they  reached  the  opposite  shore,  Alice's 
father  stepped  out,  and  took  hold  of  the  anchor 
rope,  pretty  near  where  it  was  fastened  to  the 
boat,  and,  pulling  pretty  hard,  he  drew  the  bows 
of  the  boat  up  a  little  upon  the  sand.  Then  he 
told  Alice  to  take  out  her  book,  and  amuse  her- 
self as  well  as  she  could,  until  he  came  back. 
So  Alice  sat  down  upon  a  low  seat,  which  her 
father  had  made  on  purpose  for  her,  and  opened 
her  book,  while  her  father  went  to  a  path  which 
led  up  the  bank,  and  soon  disappeared. 

It  would  have  been  safer  if  the  farmer,  instead 
of  merely  drawing  the  boat  up  upon  the  beach, 
had  taken  out  the  anchor,  and  just  laid  that  'ipon 
the  shore.  It  is  true  that,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, drawing  the  boat  up  a  little  way  would 
have  been  enough.  But  there  was  one  circum- 
stance which  rendered  this  mode  of  fastening  the 
boat,  at  this  time,  very  insecure;  and  that  was, 
that  the  water  was  rising.  It  was  rising  very 
slowly,  but  still  it  was  rising.  The  cause  of  this 
rising  was,  that  there  had  been  some  rains  among 
the  mountains,  where  the  brooks  began  to  run, 


THE    STORY    OF    ALi^tf.  tbl 

\  h'cL  made  this  river,  though  it  had  been  very 
pxeasuvt  weather  where  the  farmer  lived ;  and 
thus  the  water  in  the  river  was  rising,  though  the 
farmer  did  not  know  it.  Accordingly,  when  he 
went  up  ilie  bank,  and  left  little  Alice  in  the 
boat,  there  was  considerable  danger  that  the  wa- 
ter might  rise,  and  float  her  away. 

And  then,  besides,  after  her  father  had  gone, 
Alice  sometimes  got  tired  of  looking  over  her 
book ;  and  then  she  amused  herself  in  looking 
around, — up  and  down  the  river,  and  back  to 
her  father's  farm.  In  doing  so,  she  changed  her 
position  a  little,  though  she  did  not  actually  leave 
her  seat.  This  movement  of  hers  naturally  gave 
a  little  motion  to  the  boat,  and  tended  to  work  it 
loose  in  the  sand,  as  the  water  rose,  and  gradually 
buoyed  it  up. 

At  length,  as  Alice  was  looking  over  the  side 
of  the  c*moe,  at  the  pebbles  in  the  water  under 
mat  part  of  the  boat  where  she  was  sitting,  she 
thought  the  pebbles  all  seemed  to  be  moving  in 
towards  the  shore.  She  wondered  what  this 
strange  phenomenon  could  be.  The  pebbles 
glided  slowly  along,  and  the  water  seemed  to  be 
growing  deeper  —  appearances  which  puzzled 
Alice  very  much,  until  she  looked  up,  and  found 
that  the  boat  was  slowly  floating  away  from  Jie 


162 


shore.  It  was  this  motion  of  the  boat  away  from 
the  shore  which  caused  the  apparent  motion  ctf 
the  pebbles  towards  it. 

The  first  feeling  which  Alice  had  was,  that  sh5 
was  having  a  beautiful  little  sail ;  but  in  a  very 
few  minutes  she  began  to  be  afraid  that  she  should 
not  be  able  to  get  back. 

"  Ah,"  said  she,  "  I  know  what  Til  do.  Til 
paddle.     I  know  how  to  paddle." 

A  paddle  is  somewhat  like  an  oar,  only  it  is 
shorter  and  lighter,  and  has  a  broad,  thin  blade. 
She  took  the  paddle,  and  went  to  the  seat  where 
her  father  usually  sat,  and  tried  to  work  it.  But 
she  could  not  succeed.  She  could  make  the  boat 
go  a  little,  but  it  did  not  go  at  all  towards  the 
shore  ;  it  seemed,  on  the  other  hand,  to  move  far- 
ther and  farther  from  it. 

Alice  then  put  the  paddle  back  in  the  boat, 
and  sat  down  upon  her  own  little  seat  again,  and 
the  tears  began  to  come  into  her  eyes.  She  did 
not  know  what  would  become  of  her.  The  boat 
went  farther  and  farther  away  from  the  shore,  ani 
when  she  looked  for  the  place  where  it  had  been 
drawn  up,  she  found  that  it  was  getting  to  be  so 
far  off  that  she  could  scarcely  distinguish  it.  And 
in  the  mean  time,  as  her  boat  floated  slowly  down 
the  stream,  the  banks,  and  rocks,  and  trees  upon 


TIIE     STORY    OF    AI-TCE.  163 

ine  shore,  seemed  to  glide  along  as  if  the  whole 
country  was  in  motion. 

Alice  soon  reflected  that  it  would  do  no  good 
to  cry;  and  so  she  wiped  away  the  tears,  and 
Degan  to  consider  what  would  probably  become 
of  her.  She  saw  that  she  was  drifting  down, 
down  very  far,  and  she  wondered  where  it  was 
that  the  river  went  to,  in  the  end ;  for  she 
knew  that  she  must  go  there,  at  last,  wherever  it 
was,  unless  she  could  get  stopped  in  some  way. 
Then  she  thought  that  perhaps  somebody  might 
see  her  from  the  shore,  and  come  out  to  her,  — 
somebody  that  would  know  how  to  paddle,  and 
so  be  able  to  paddle  her  back  to  the  shore.  But 
then,  again,  she  did  not  see  how  they  could  get 
out  to  her,  if  they  should  see  her.  Then  she 
thought  that,  perhaps,  in  going  down  the  river,  the 
boat  might  accidentally  get  nearer  and  nearer  to 
one  bank  or  the  other,  and  especially  that,  at 
some  place  where  the  river  turned,  the  boat  might, 
perhaps,  keep  on,  and  so  come  to  the  shore. 

While  she  was  thinking  of  these  things,  she 
kept  stil]  sailing  down  farther  and  farther;  until, 
at  length,  she  saw  before  her  a  kind  of  a  bend  in 
the  river,  and  there  was  a  point  of  land  on  one 
lide,  which  stretched  out  almost  before  where 
W  boat  was  going. 


164  ..UCy's    STORIES. 

"  Ah,"  said  Alice,  "  I  shall  run  against  that 
point  of  land,  and  then  I  can  get  out." 

The  boat  went  on,  directly  towards  the  end  of 
the  point,  and  Alice  could  not  tell  wliether  it  was 
going  to  come  against  it  and  stop,  or  just  go  by. 
The  point  was  rocky.  As  the  canoe  came  nearer, 
she  saw  that  it  was  just  going  by  it,  barely  touch- 
ing. As  it  glided  slowly  along,  Alice  put  out  her 
hand  to  get  hold  of  the  corner  of  a  rock,  and  stop 
herself.  But  the  canoe  pulled  so  hard  that  it 
pulled  her  hand  away.  Alice  that  instant  thought 
of  her  father's  boat-hook.  The  boat-hook  was  a 
pole,  not  very  long,  with  a  hook  in  one  end  of  it ; 
and  she  remembered  that  her  father  used  to  hook 
this  into  something  or  other  upon  the  shore,  when- 
ever he  wished  to  land.  She  got  the  boat-hook 
up  as  quick  as  she  could,  but  it  was  too  late. 
Before  she  could  get  it  reached  out  towards  the 
rock,  the  boat  had  got  so  far  away  that  she  could 
not  get  hold  of  it :  the  end  dropped  into  the  wa- 
ter, and  she  had  reached  out  so  far  that  the  boat 
tipped  over  very  much  to  one  side  ;  and  Alice 
suddenly  let  go  the  end  of  the  pole  which  she 
had  in  her  hand,  in  order  to  catch  hold  of  the 
side  of  the  boat.  Of  course,  the  boat-hook 
dropped  entirely  into  the  water,  and  began  to 
float  away.     Alice   tried   to   r**ach   it   with    thr 


THE    STORY    OF     ALICE.  165 

paddle  but  she  could  not.  She  was  very  much 
concerned  at  the  loss  of  her  father's  boat-hook. 

Alice  was  now  quite  disheartened,  and  did  no* 
know  what  to  do ;  but,  as  she  was  sitting  upon 
her  seat,  musing  upon  her  sad  situation,  her  eye 
happened  to  fall  upon  the  great  round  stone, 
which  served  for  an  anchor,  and  which  was  upon 
the  bows  of  the  canoe.  "  Ah,"  said  she,  "  I'll 
anchor.     That's  what  I'll  do." 

So  she  went  forward  to  the  anchor,  and  began 
to  roll  it  over  towards  the  edge  of  the  boat.  In 
a  moment,  however,  she  recollected  that  when 
she  had  been  out  with  her  father,  fishing,  he  had 
said  that  he  could  not  anchor  his  boat,  except 
where  the  water  was  so  shallow  that  he  could 
see  the  bottom.  So  she  looked  down  into  the 
water,  to  see  if  she  could  see  the  bottom.  She 
could  not.  The  water  was  dark  and  deep.  So 
she  knew  it  would  do  no  good  to  put  the  anchor 
in  there. 

She  then  thought  she  would  wait  and  see  if 
the  boat  would  not  come  over  some  shallow  place , 
as  it  moved  along.  So  she  sat  down  by  the  side 
of  the  stone,  and  watched  the  water.  She  did 
not  have  to  wait  a  great  while  ;  for  presently  she 
observed  that  the  water  began  to  have  a  yellow- 
ish tinge,  which  was  given  to  it  by  the  li^ht  re- 


166  LUCY  S     STORIES. 

fleeted  from  the  sand  below.  It  grew  brighter 
dnd  brighter,  and  presently  the  dim  foim  of  a 
large  log,  which  was  lying  upon  the  bottom,  glided 
into  view.  Very  soon  Alice  could  see  the  sand 
and  the  pebbles  very  distinctly  ;  and  she  rose  from 
her  seat,  saying, 

"  Now  I'll  let  the  anchor  go." 

She  exerted  all  her  strength,  and  rolled  the 
stone  over  the  bows.  It  plunged  into  t<he  water 
with  a  great  noise  and  spattering.  The  rope  ran 
out  after  it  very  fast,  and  in  a  minute  or  two  ihe 
boat  stopped,  and  the  current  of  the  water  began 
to  ripple  fast  against  the  bows  and  along  its  sides. 

"  There,"  said  Alice  ;  "  now  if  somebody 
would  only  come  and  get  me  I " 

She  waited  here  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  looking  about,  sometimes  up  and  down  the 
river,  and  sometimes  across  to  the  banks  on  each 
side,  in  hopes  to  see  somebody  coming.  At  last, 
as  she  was  looking  up  the  river,  she  thought  she 
saw  something  black  upon  the  water.  She  looked 
at  it  attentively.  Presently  she  could  perceive 
that  there  was  something  moving  in  it  or  about 
»t.  She  soon  made  it  out  to  be  a  boat,  with  oars 
working  briskly  in  the  water  on  each  side.  It 
was  coming  directly  towards  her.  Alice  was 
very  glad.     She  determined  iliat  as  soon  as  thej 


THE    STORY    OF    ALICE.  167 

should  come  pretty  near,  she  would  speak  to 
them,  and  ask  them  to  paddle  her  back  to  hei 
father's. 

As  the  boat  came  on  towards  her,  Alice  ob- 
served that  one  of  the  rowers  stopped  rowing,  and 
stood  up  in  the  boat,  looking  towards  her.  Alice 
perceived  that  it  was  her  father ;  and  just  at  the 
same  instant,  he  saw  her,  and  called  out, 

"  Alice ! " 

Alice  answered, 

"  Here  I  am,  father,  —  all  safe,  —  only  I  have 
lost  your  boat-hook.     But  I  am  very  sorry." 

Her  father  was  very  glad  indeed  to  find  her 
safe  again.  When  he  found  that  the  boat  was 
gone  from  the  place  where  he  had  left  it,  he  was 
very  much  alarmed;  he  supposed  that  the  boat 
had  drifted  away,  and  he  was  afraid  his  little 
Alice  had  got  drowned.  He,  however,  went  as 
quick  as  he  could,  and  got  another  boat,  and  an- 
other man,  too,  to  help  him  row,  so  that  he  could 
go  down  the  river  faster.  He  was  therefore  ex- 
ceedingly glad  when  he  found  her  safely  ancnored, 
and  he  told  her  that  he  did  not  care  ary  thing 
about  the  boat-hook  at  all. 


168  LUCY  S    STORIES. 

CHAPTER    XIV 

PLAYING  COLLEGE. 

A     STORY     FROM    THE     MOROCCO     BOOK 

Anna  and  George  were  one  evening  playh  f 
tround  the  fire  just  before  tea,  when  their  father 
came  in  and  took  his  seat  in  the  great  arm-chair, 
waiting  for  the  tea  bell  to  ring. 

Anna  and  George  both  came  to  him,  and  want 
ed  him  to  have  a  play. 

"  Well,  what  shall  we  play  ?  "  said  their  father. 

"  Let  us  play  lion  and  old  man,"  said  Anna. 

"  No,"  said  her  father,  "  that  is  a  noisy  play, 
and  I  do  not  feel  like  a  noisy  play  just  now. 
We'll  play  college." 

"  Play  college  1 "  said  George.  "  O,  I  don't 
know  how  to  play  college." 

"  But  I  will  tell  you.  You  shall  be  the  class, 
and  I  will  be  the  Professor  of  Philosophy.  The 
class  in  college  come  together,  and  sit  very  quiet 
and  still  while  the  Professor  gives  them  a  lecture 
in  Philosophy,  and  explains  something  to  them 
which  they  did  not  understand  before ;  and  then 
he  asks  them  questions,  to  see  if  they  remember 
what  he  has  told  them." 

So  Anna  and  George  brought  their  crickets, 
and  sat  down  before  their  father,  and  listened  very 
gravely  while  he  lectured  them  as  follows :  — 

"The  subject  of  this  lecture,  young  gentle 
men, " 


PLAYING    COLLEGE.  169 

"  1  am  not  a  young  gentleman,"  said  Anna. 

"  No,  but  we  play  that  you  are,"  said  George 

"  The  subject  of  my  lecture,"  continued  their 
father,  "  is  the  fire." 

Here  George  and  Anna  both  looked  at  the 
bright  fire  which  was  burning  in  the  fireplace. 

"  When  a  fire  like  that  is  burning,"  continued 
their  father,  "  there  is  a  kind  of  hot,  smoky  aii 
produced,  which  is  not  good  to  breathe.  It  would 
strangle  us." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  strangle  ? "  asked 
George.  He  was  a  small  boy,  and  he  did  not 
understand  language  very  well. 

"  Why,  it  would  produce  8  kind  of  choking, 
stifling  feeling,  and  make  us  catch  our  breath 
and  cough ;  and  at  last,  if  we  could  not  get  any 
other  air  to  breathe,  we  should  sink  down  and 
die ;  so  that,  if  there  was  a  tight  room  made, 
with  a  brick  floor,  and  a  fire  was  made  upon 
the  floor,  and  people  were  shut  up  in  the  room, 
it  would  in  a  short  time  kill  them." 

"  The  smoke  would  kill  them  ? "  said  George. 

"  It  would  not  be  altogether  the  smoke.  Smoke 
is  what  we  can  see  rising  up  from  a  fire ;  but  there 
is  something  else,  called  a  gas,  or  rather  there  are 
several  kinds  of  gas,  which  come  from  a  fire ;  and 
these  gases  and  the  smoke  together  are  what 
would  strangle  us  if  we  should  breathe  them 
Now,  it  follows  from  this,  that  if  we  wish  to  have 
a  fire  in  a  room,  we  must  have  some  way  for  the 
smoke  and  the  gases  to  go  off,  or  we  shall  ba 
choked  and  strangled  by  them. 


170  lucy's  stories. 

"  The  way  we  contrive  to  let  them  oft*  is  ay  a 
chimney.  The  chimney  has  an  opening  through 
it,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.  This  opening  is 
called  a  flue.  The  smoke  and  the  gases  can  go 
up  this  flue.  It  must  be  built  of  something  that 
will  not  burn,  or  else  the  sparks  might  set  it  on 
fire.  They  commonly  build  it  of  bricks.  Some- 
times the  farmers,  in  the  new  settlements,  cannot 
get  bricks  very  conveniently,  and  so  they  build 
their  chimneys  of  great  stones ;  but  this  makes  a 
very  rough-looking  fireplace.  They  make  the 
hearth  of  great,  flat  stones,  too." 

"  O,  I  should  like  to  see  one,"  said  Anna. 

"  I  have  seen  them,"  said  her  father.  "  Sav- 
ages have  no  chimneys." 

"  What  are  savages  ? "  said  George. 

"  They  are  wild  men,  that  live,  in  some  parts 
of  the  world,  in  the  woods,  in  little  huts,  which 
they  make  of  branches  of  trees  or  of  bark.  They 
build  their  fires  in  the  middle  of  the  hut,  and  let 
the  smoke  go  out  of  a  hole  in  the  roof  overhead. 
There  must  always  be  some  passage ;  for  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  having  a  fire  without  its  pro- 
ducing smoke  and  gases,  which  it  would  be  bad 
to  breathe." 

"Does  a  lamp  make  gases,"  asked  George, 
"  when  it  is  burning  ? " 

"  Yes,"  replied  his  father ;  "  but  a  lamp  is  such 
a  small  fire,  that  the  gases  float  away,  and  mingle 
with  the  air  of  the  room." 

"  O  father,"  said  Anna,  "  is  a  lamp  a  fire  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  her  father,  "  it  is  a  little  fire  of  oil'* 

"  1  never  knew  that,"  said  George. 


PLAYING    COLLEGE.  171 

"  You  never  heard  it  called  a  fire,  perhaps,  but 
you  knew  that  it  was  of  the  same  nature.  But 
now  my  lecture  is  over,  and  I  must  ask  the  class 
some  questions." 

Their  father  was  then  going  to  ask  the  children 
some  questions  ;  but,  just  as  he  was  going  to  begin, 
the  tea  came  in,  and  the  bell  rang,  and  so  they 
all  gave  up  playing  college,  and  went  and  took 
their  seats  at  table. 

George  and  Anna,  who  had  been  quite  inter 
ested  in  their  lecture,  observed  at  once  that  the 
tea-pot  was  smoking,  and  they  said  there  ought  to 
be  a  chimney  for  that  smoke  to  go  up  in. 

"  O,  that  is  not  smoke,"  said  their  father ;  "  that 
is  something  very  different." 

"  What  is  it  ? "  said  Anna. 

"  It  is  vapor.  Vapor  is  very  different  from 
smoke,"  said  her  father. 

"  How  is  it  different  ?  " 

"  Why,  vapor  is  made  up  of  very  fine  particles 
of  water,  and  it  does  not  strangle  us  to  breathe 
them.  But  smoke  is  made  up  of  fine  particles  of 
coal,  or  something  like  coal.  If  you  hold  the  blade 
of  a  knife  in  the  vapor  from  the  tea-pot,  you  will 
find  that  a  spot  upon  it  will  become  covered  with 
water;  but  things  held  long  in  the  smoke,  like 
the  hooks  and  the  crane  over  the  kitchen  fire,  be- 
come black  and  sooty.  Soot  is  formed  of  particles 
of  smoke  collected  upon  the  iron,  or  upon  the 
back  of  the  chimney.  So  that  there  is  a  very 
great  difference  between  smoke  and  vapor,  though 
they  look  somewhat  alike.  There  is  an  obvious 
difference,  too,  even  in  the  appearance,  if  we  tv«v 


172 


LUCY'S    STORIES. 


tice  carefully.  Vapor  is  grayish  white.  Smoke 
is  blue.  Vapor,  after  it  rises  a  little  way,  melts 
away,  and  disappears  entirely  ;  but  smoke  rema  ns. 
If  it  gets  into  a  room,  it  spreads  all  over  it,  and 
remains  in  the  air  until  it  gradually  goes  off'  out 
the  doors  or  windows,  or  up  the  chimney." 

After  tea,  Anna  and  George  begged  their  moth- 
er to  put  the  tea-pot  down  upon  the  floor  a  min- 
ute or  two,  and  let  them  hold  their  heads  over 
it,  and  see  if  they  could  breathe  the  vapor.  Their 
father  told  them  they  must  not  hold  their  heads 
near,  for  it  might  be  hot  enough  to  scald  them. 
He  was,  in  fact,  rather  unwilling  to  let  them  try 
that  experiment  at  all,  for  fear  of  some  danger. 
At  length,  however,  he  concluded  to  let  them  try 
cautiously,  taking  care  tha'  ihey  lid  not  put  their 
heads  very  near.  They  found  that  the  vapor  did 
not  strangle  them  at  all,  nor  make  their  eyes 
tingle,  like  smoke.  So  they  were  satisfied  that 
it  was  a  very  different  thing ;  though  their  fa- 
ther told  them  that  vapor  was  often  mingled  with 
smoke,  from  the  fire,  and  came  out  with  it,  at  the 
top  of  the  chimney. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE   STRANGER'S   STORY. 

One  day,  when  Lucy  was  quite  a  little  girl, 
she  travelled  with  her  father  in  the  steamboat. 
It  was  almost  evening  when  they  went  on  board 


THE    STRANGER'S    STORY.  173 

the  steamboat,  and  they  sailed  along  a  narrow 
channel  of  water,  looking  at  the  beauti-ful  shores, 
The  sun  was  just  setting;  and  its  bright  rays 
gilded  the  trees  and  glittered  upon  the  windows. 
At  first,  Lucy  thought  that  the  houses  were  on 
fire;  but  her  mother  told  her  it  was  only  the 
reflection  of  the  sun. 

At  length  the  sun  went  down,  and  left  the 
western  sky  full  of  brilliant  clouds.  Lucy  looked 
at  them,  and  played  that  they  were  cities  on  fire, 
and  slowly  burning.  She  saw  steeples  and 
towers,  red  with  flames,  and  giants'  heads  look- 
ing over  the  battlements.  In  another  part  of 
the  sky,  at  a  little  distance,  there  were  lions, 
and  tigers,  and  elephants,  of  fire.  Lucy  watched 
them  a  long  time.  She  listened,  trying  to  hear 
the  flames  of  the  burning  cities  crackle,  or  the 
lions  roar.  But  they  were  all  still.  She  heard 
nothing  but  the  thundering  of  the  engine,  and  the 
dashing  of  the  boat  through  the  water. 

At  length  the  brightness  of  the  sky  gradually 
faded  away.  The  steamboat  swept  swiftly  around 
a  point  of  land  with  a  tall,  white  lighthouse  upon 
it.  By  doing  this,  the  boat  changed  its  course 
somewhat,  and  a  great  stream  of  sparks  from  the 
chimney  of  the  engine  came  pouring  over  to  thft 
part  of  the  sky  where  Lucy  was  looking.  She 
thought  the  sparks  were  more  beautiful  than  the 
clouds.  They  seemed  to  Lucy  to  be  as  far  off 
as  the  stars,  and  they  were  far  more  numerous 
and  brilliant. 

After  a  time,  the  evering  air  began  to  grow  &c 
15* 


174  lucy's  stories. 

cool  that  Lucy's  mother  said  that  they  must  move 
back  into  a  more  sheltered  place.  So  they  took 
their  seats,  and  put  them  in  a  sheltered  comer, 
near  some  trunks,  which  were  piled  up  pretty 
high.  There  was  a  gentleman  sitting  upon  the 
other  side  of  the  pile  of  trunks.  Lucy  could  just 
see  his  head  over  the  tops  of  them 

Aftetfa  short  time,  the  gentleman  spoke  to  Lucy, 
and  said, 

"  My  little  girl,  won't  you  come  and  sit  with  me  ? '' 

Lucy  did  not  answer.  She  hung  her  head,  and 
looked  very  foolish. 

This  was  not  right.  If  Lucy  thought  it  was 
best  not  to  go  and  see  the  gentleman  without  her 
mother's  leave,  she  ought  to  have  looked  up  to 
him  pleasantly,  and  said,  "  No,  I  thank  you. 
sir."  Instead  of  that,  she  only  hung  her  head, 
and  looked  as  if  she  was  afraid. 

Presently  the  gentleman  invited  her  again,  and 
her  mother  said,  "  Should  not  you  like  to  go  and 
see  the  gentleman,  Lucy  ?     You  may  go." 

But  still  Lucy  did  not  answer.  She  put  her 
finger  in  her  mouth,  and  moved  about  upon  her 
seat  restlessly,  without  saying  a  word. 

But  the  gentleman  wanted  her  to  come  and 
see  him  very  much.  He  was  alone,  and  had  no- 
body to  talk  with,  and  so  he  thought  he  should 
like  to  have  Lucy  come  and  sit  in  his  lap,  and  let 
him  tell  her  a  story.     But  Lucy  would  not  come. 

Lucy  was  afraid  of  him.  She  did  not  really 
suppose  that  he  would  hurt  her,  but  she  was 
airaid  of  him  because  he  was  a  stranger.  This 
being  excessively  afraid  of  strangers  which 


175 

makes   children  appear   so  silly,  is   called 
bashfulness.     Lucy  was  bashful. 

Then  the  gentleman  thought  to  himself, 

"  I  will  contrive  a  plan  to  get  her  to  come 
to  me." 

Then  he  said  aloud  to  Lucy.  "  If  you  will 
come  here  and  sit  in  my  lap,  I  will  tell  you  a  story." 

But  Lucy  did  not  move  or  answer. 

"  Should  you  like  to  have  me  tell  you  a  story 
while  you  stay  where  you  are  ? "  said  the  gen- 
tleman. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy. 

"  But  the  engine  makes  such  a  noise  that  I 
cannot  talk  very  well  over  the  tops  of  the  trunks," 
said  the  gentleman.  "  I  shall  soon  get  tired. 
But  if  you  will  come  and  sit  with  me,  I  can  tel 
you  the  story  right  in  your  ear.  That  will  be 
easy,  and  so  I  can  make  the  story  a  great  deal 
longer ;  and  then,  besides,  you  can  hear  better." 

Lucy  did  not  answer. 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  gentleman ;  "  if  you 
prefer  to  stay  where  you  are,  I  will  do  as  well 
as  I  can.  I  will  begin  the  story,  and  go  on  until 
I  am  tired." 

Now,  the  gentleman's  plan  was  this.  He  was 
going  to  begin  a  story  to  Lucy,  telling  it  to  her 
over  the  trunks,  and  go  on  until  he  came  to  some 
interesting  part,  and  then  he  was  going  to  stop 
and  say  that  he  could  not  tell  any  more  over  the 
trunks ;  but  that,  if  she  would  come,  and  sit  with 
him,  he  would  finish  it.  He  expected  that  bv 
this  time  Lucy  would  have  become  a  little  ac- 
quainted with  him,  so  that  she  would  not  be  j«» 


l76  LUCY*S    STORIES. 

afraid,  — « and  also  that  she  would  become  inter- 
ested in  what  he  was  telling  her,  and  want  to 
hear  the  rest  of  it.  This  was  a  very  ingenious 
plan,  and  you  shall  hear  how  it  succeeded. 

THE  STRANGER'S  STORY. 

The  gentleman  began  his  story  Li  the  follow- 
ing words :  — 

"The  story  is  about  a  girl  named  Agatha. 
One  day,  after  dinner,  she  said, 

"<  Mother  ?' 

"  And  her  mother  said, 

"'What,  Agatha?' 

Here  Lucy  began  to  turn  round  in  her  seat  to 
look  towards  the  gentleman  who  was  telling  the 
story,  so  that  she  could  hear  better  what  Agatha 
was  going  to  say.  She  was  curious  to  know 
what  she  was  going  to  say. 

The  gentleman  continued  as  follows :  — 

"  '  I  wish,  mother,  you  would  let  me  go  out  and 
take  a  walk,  this  afternoon,  down  to  the  bird's 
nest.  I  want  to  see  if  the  little  birds  are  big 
enough  to  fly.' 

" '  No,  Agatha,  I  cannot  let  you  go  this  after- 
noon ;  you  must  stay  and  help  me  iron  the 
clothes.' 

"  <  Well,  mother,1  said  Agatha,  <  I  will.' 

"  She  did  not  look  sullen  and  ill-humored,  and 
begin  to  complain  or  murmur  because  she  could 
not  go ;  but  she  said,  cheerfully  and  pleasantly, 
Well,  mother,  I  will/ 

"  She  went  at  once  and  got  some  wood  to 


177 


make  a  good  fire ;  then  she  put  the  flatirons  down 
before  it,  and  she  worked  industriously  all  the 
afternoon  until  five  o'clock.  By  that  time  the 
clothes  were  all  ironed  and  put  away,  and  tl>e 
table  set  back  in  its  place. 

"  Then  Agatha  asked  her  mother  if  she  might 
sweep  up  the  hearth  ;  and  her  mother  said,  '  Yes.' 

"  So  Agatha  took  the  brush,  and  swept  the 
hearth,  and  put  the  chairs  back,  and  made  the 
room  look  very  neat  and  pleasant. 

"  Then  her  mother  said, 

"  '  Now,  Agatha,  you  have  been  a  very  good 
girl,  and  have  helped  me  a  great  deal  this  after- 
noon ;  and,  if  you  would  like  it,  you  may  go  and 
get  your  cousin  George,  and  have  a  gypsy  supper.' 

"  '  Well ! '  said  Agatha,  — '  and  may  I  abk  Lou- 
isa to  come  too  * ' 

"  ( Yes/  said  her  mother. 

fC  So  Agatha  got  her  bonnet,  and  went  skipping 
away,  saying, '  I  am  going  to  have  a  gypsy  supper, 
—  a  gypsy  supper.'  " 


Here  Lucy  looked  up,  and  said,  with  a  timid 
voice,  "  I  don't  know  what  a  gypsy  supper  is." 

"  Don't  you  ? "  said  the  stranger.  "  Did  you 
never  hear  of  a  gypsy  supper  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  answered  Lucy. 

"  Well,"  said  the  stranger,  "  you  will  hear  as  I 
go  on  with  the  story.  Agatha  went  to  the  next 
house,  where  her  cousin  George  lived,  and  then 
to  the  house  beyond,  where  Louisa  lived;  and 
she  invited  them  to  come  and  have  a  gypsy  sup- 
per with  her ;  and  they  txxh  came. 


178  LUCY'S    STORIES. 

"  George  brought  his  little  trucks,  so  as  to  haul 
the  things  for  the  gypsy  supper.  When  the)'  got 
to  the  house,  Agatha's  mother  had  got  every  thing 
ready  for  them  upon  the  kitchen  table ;  and  there 
was  a  tin  pail  with  a  cover  to  put  the  various  articles 
into.  George  left  his  trucks  at  the  door,  and  all 
the  children  came  in,  and  stood  around  the  table, 
and  looked  on,  while  Agatha  began  to  put  the 
things  into  the  tin  pail. 

"  First  there  were  six  apples,  —  two  for  each 
of  them.  You  see  there  were  three  children  ;  and 
two  apiece  for  three  makes  six.  Then  there  was 
a  beautiful  little " 

Here  the  gentleman  stopped  telling  his  story, 
and  said, 

"But  I  believe  I  cannot  tell  you  any  more 
now.  It  is  hard  for  me  to  talk  to  you  so  far,  — 
the  engine  makes  such  a  noise.  I  begin  to  be 
pretty  tired.  If  you  were  here  sitting  up  in  my 
lap,  I  could  finish  it ;  but  I  suppose  you  don't 
care  enough  about  hearing  the  rest  of  it  to  come 
and  sit  with  me." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy,  "  I'll  come." 

So  saying,  Lucy  jumped  down  from  her  seat, 
and  ran  round  the  trunks  to  the  place  where  the 
gentleman  was  sitting.  He  took  her  up  into  his 
lap,  and  proeeeded  at  once  as  follows:  — 

"  There  was  a  beautiful  little  apple-pie  on  the 
table,  just  big  enough  to  go  easily  into  the  bottom 
of  the  tin  pail.  Then  there  were  several  slices 
of  bread  and  butter,  and  a  small  tin  mug  for  them 
to  drink  water  with  from  the  spring. 


THE    STRANGER'S    STORY.  179 

41  What  spring  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

n  Why,  a  spring  down  in  the  woods,  where  they 
*ere  going  to  have  their  gypsy  supper." 

"  Were  they  going  down  into  the  woods  ? " 
said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  you  will  hear. 
They  put  all  the  things  carefully  into  the  pail, 
and  then  they  put  the  pail  upon  the  trucks,  and 
George  drew  it  along.  The  two  girls  walked 
behind.  They  went  down  through  the  yard,  and 
out  at  a  gate.  Agatha  held  the  gate  open,  while 
George  drew  the  trucks  through.  Here  they 
(bund  a  path  leading  down  into  the  woods.  They 
went  on  till  they  came  into  a  valley,  where  there 
was  a  spring  of  beautiful  cool  water,  and  some 
rocks  around  it  to  sit  upon. 

"  The  first  thing  they  did  was  to  build  a 
little  fire.  George  and  Louisa  looked  around  for 
dry  sticks,  while  Agatha  lighted  a  match  and 
kindled  them.  Pretty  soon,  they  had  a  very  good 
tire,  and  they  put  the  apples  down  before  it  to 
roast,  on  a  flat  stone.  They  took  out  the  bread 
and  butter,  and  began  to  eat  it  while  the  apples 
were  roasting.  Then  they  cut  the  pie,  and  each 
took  a  slice ;  and  when  they  were  thirsty,  they 
drank  water  from  the  spring  by  means  of  the 
III  tie  dipper.  And  all  the  time  they  were  talking 
together  very  happily,  —  while  the  smoke  of  the 
fire  curled  up  among  the  tops  of  the  trees." 

Here  the  gentleman  stopped. 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  that  is  about  all 


180 


"  Why,  —  didn't  they  go  home  again  ? "  aske<f 
Lucy. 

"O  yes,  after  they  had  finished  their  gypsy 
supper,  they  all  went  home." 

"  Is  that  a  gypsy  supper  ?  "  said  Lucy,  after  a 
short  pause. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  gentleman.  "Gypsies  are 
people  that  live  chiefly  out  of  doors.  They  have 
no  nouses  of  their  own  ;  and  so,  whenever  children 
have  a  supper,  by  themselves,  in  the  woods,  or  in 
the  fields,  they  call  it  a  gypsy  supper" 

Here  Lucy,  observing  that  the  gentleman  had 
no  more  to  tell,  began  to  slide  down  out  of  his 
lap,  to  go  back  to  her  seat.  He  made  no  resist- 
ance, and  so  Lucy  left  him  alone.  Presently  the 
gentleman  arose  from  his  seat,  and  walked  away. 
Her  mother  said  to  her, 

"  Are  you  glad  or  sorry  that  you  went  to  see 
the  gentleman  ? " 

"  Glad,"  said  Lucy. 

"  You  were  afraid  to  go,  at  first." 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  know  I  was." 

"  It  is  very  foolish,"  said  her  mother,  "  for  chil- 
dren to  be  afraid  of  ladies  or  gentlemen  just  be- 
cause they  are  strangers." 

Lucy  thought  that  this  was  correct,  and  she 
resolved  that  the  next  time  a  gentleman  spoke  to 
her  under  such  circumstances,  she  would  go  to 
him,  and  hear  what  he  had  to  say ;  and  a  short 
time  afterwards,  when  she  met  this  gentleman 
walking  upon  the  deck  of  the  steamboat,  tth 
thanked  him  for  telling  her  the  story. 


COUSIN  LUCY'S 
CONVERSATIONS. 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE  ROLLO  BOOKS. 


>*Xc 


THE   LUCY   SERIES 


IS    COMPOSED   OF   SIX   VOLUMES,    VIZ.  : 


Lucy  Among  the  Mountains. 
Lucy's  Conversations. 
Lucy  on  the  Sea-Shore. 


Lucy  at  Study. 

Lucy  at  Play. 

Stories  told  to  Cousin  Lucy. 


A  NEW  EDITION,   REVISED   BY   THE  AUTHOR. 


NEW    YORK: 
THOMAS   Y.   CROWELL   &    CO., 

No.  13  Astoii  Place. 


NOTICE, 


The  simple  delineations  of  the  or- 
dinary incidents  and  feelings  which 
characterize  childhood,  that  are  con- 
tained in  the  Rollo  Books,  having  been 
found  to  interest,  and,  as  the  author 
hopes,  in  some  degree  to  benefit  the 
young"  readers  for  whom  they  were 
designed, — the  plan  is  herein  extended 
to  children  of  the  other  sex.  The  two 
first  volumes  of  the  series  are  Lucy's 
Conversations  and  Lucy's  Stories. 
Lucy  was  Rollo's  cousin;  and  the  au- 
thor hopes  that  the  history  of  her  life 
and  adventures  may  be  entertaining 
and  useful  to  the  sisters  of  the  boys 
who  have  honored  the  Kollo  Books 
with  their  approval. 


CONTENTS 


Pasre 
CONVERSATION  I. 

The  Treasury ° 

CONVERSATION  II. 
Definitions 2J 

CONVERSATION  III. 
The  Glen 34 

CONVERSATION  IV. 
A  Prisoner 43 

CONVERSATION  V. 
Target  Painting 51 

CONVERSATION  VI. 
Midnight 60 


8  CONTENTS. 

CONVERSATION  VII. 
Joanna 75 

CONVERSATION  VIIL 
Building 88 

CONVERSATION  IX. 

EQUIVOCATION 103 

CONVERSATION  X. 
Johnny 118 

CONVERSATION  XI. 
Getting  Lost .132 

CONVERSATION  XII. 
Lucy's  Scholar 14G 

CONVERSATION  XIII. 
Sketching 159 

CONVERSATION  XIV. 
Danger 170 


LUCY'S    OONYEESATIONS. 


CONVERSATION  I. 

THE  TREASURY. 

One  day  in  summer,  when  Lucy  was  a  very 
little  girl,  she  was  sitting  in  her  rocking-chair, 
playing  keep  school.  She  had  placed  several 
crickets  and  small  chairs  in  a  row  for  the  chil- 
dren's seats,  and  had  been  talking,  in  dialogue, 
for  some  time,  pretending  to  hold  conversations 
with  her  pupils.  She  heard  one  read  and  spell, 
and  gave  another  directions  about  her  writing ; 
and  she  had  quite  a  long  talk  with  a  third  about 
tho  reason  why  she  did  not  come  to  school  earlier. 
At  last  Luc}T,  seeing  the  kitten  come  into  the 
room,  and  thinking  tha'  she  should  like  to  go  and 
play  with  her,  told  the  children  that  she  thought 
it  was  time  for  school  to  be  done. 

Royal,  Lucy's  brother,  had  been  sitting  upon 


10 


the  steps  at  the  front  door,  while  Lucy  was  play- 
ing school ;  and  just  as  she  was  thinking  that  it 
was  time  to  dismiss  the  children,  he  happened  to 
get  up  and  come  into  the  room.  Royal  was 
about  eleven  years  old.  When  he  found  that 
Lucy  was  playing  school,  he  stopped  at  the  door 
a  moment  to  listen. 

"  Now,  children,"  said  Lucy,  "  it  is  time  for  the 
school  to  be  dismissed ;  for  I  want  to  play  with 
the  kitten." 

Here  Royal  laughed  aloud. 

Lucy  looked  around,  a  little  disturbed  at  Roy 
al's  interruption.  Besides,  she  did  not  like  to  be 
laughed  at.  She,  however,  said  nothing  in  reply, 
but  still  continued  to  give  her  attention  to  her 
school.  Royal  walked  in,  and  stood  somewha 
nearer. 

"  We  will  sing  a  hymn,"  said  Lucy,  gravely. 

Here  Royal  laughed  again. 

"  Royal,  you  must  not  laugh,"  said  Lucy. 
u  They  always  sing  a  hymn  at  the  end  of  a 
school."  Then,  making  believe  that  she  was 
speaking  to  her  scholars,  she  said,  "  You  may  all 
take  out  your  hymn-books,  children." 

Lucy  had  a  little  hymn-book  in  her  hand,  and 
she  began  turning  over  the  leaves,  pretending  ui 
find  a  place. 


THL    TREASURY.  11 

"  You  r.idy  wing,"  the  said,  at  last,  "  the  thirty 
third  hymn,  long  part,  second  metre." 

At  this  sad  mismaving  of  the  words  in  Lucy's 
announcement  of  the  hymn,  Royal  found  that 
he  could  contain  himself  no  longer.  He  burst 
into  loud  and  incontrollable  fits  of  laughter,  stag- 
gering about  the  room,  and  saying  to  himself,  as 
he  could  catch  a  little  breath,  "  Long  part !  — - 
O  dear  me !  —  second  metre  !  —  O  dear  !  " 

"  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  with  all  the  sternness  she 
could  command,  "  you  shall  not  laugh." 

Royal  made  no  reply,  but  tumbled  over  upon 
die  sofa,  holding  his  sides,  and  every  minute  re- 
peating, at  the  intervals  of  the  paroxysm,  "  Long 
part  —  second  metre !  —  O  dear  me  !  " 

"  Royal,"  said  Lucy  again,  stamping  with  her 
little  foot  upon  the  carpet,  "  I  tell  you,  you 
shall  not  laugh." 

Then  suddenly  she  seized  a  little  twig  which  she 
had  by  her  side,  and  which  she  had  provided  as  a 
rod  to  punish  her  imaginary  scholars  with  ;  and, 
starting  up,  she  ran  towards  Royal,  saying,  "  IT 
soon  make  you  sober  with  my  rod." 

Royal  immediately  jumped  up  from  the  sofa, 
and  ran  off,  —  Lucy  in  hot  pursuit.  Royal  turned 
into  the  back  entry,  and  passed  out  through  an 
open  door  behind,  which  led  into  a  little  green 


yard  back  of  the  house.  There  was  a  young 
lady,  about  seventeen  years  old,  coming  out  of  the 
garden  into  the  little  yard,  with  a  watering-pot  in 
her  hand,  just  as  Royal  and  Lucy  came  out  of 
the  house. 

She  stopped  Lucy,  and  asked  her  what  was  the 
matter. 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  Royal  keeps 
laughing  at  me." 

Miss  Anne  looked  around  to  see  Royal.  He 
had  gone  and  seated  himself  upon  a  bench  under 
an  apple-tree,  and  seemed  entirely  out  of  breath 
and  exhausted ;  though  his  face  was  still  full  of 
half-suppressed  glee. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Royal  ? "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Why,  he  is  laughing  at  my  school,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  No,  I  am  not  laughing  at  her  school,"  said 
Royal ;  "  but  she  was  going  to  give  out  a  hymn, 
and  she  said " 

Royal  could  not  get  any  further.  The  fit  oi 
laughter  came  over  him  again,  and  he  lay  down 
upon  the  bench,  unable  to  give  any  farther  account 
of  it,  except  to  get  out  the  words,  "  Long  part ! 
O  dear  me !     What  shall  I  do  ? " 


THE     JREASURY.  13 

Royal !  "  exclaimed  Lucy. 

*  Never  mind  him,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  lei 
tk-n  laugh  if  he  will,  and  you  come  with  me." 

"  Why,  where  are  you  going  ?  " 

*  Into  my  room.  Come,  go  in  with  me,  and  I 
will  talk  with  you." 

So  Miss  Anne  took  Lucy  along  with  her  into 
a  little  back  bedroom.  There  was  a  window  at 
one  side,  and  a  table,  with  books,  and  an  inkstand, 
and  a  work-basket  upon  it.  Miss  \nne  sat  down 
at  this  window,  and  took  her  work;  and  Lucy 
came  and  leaned  against  her,  and  said, 

"  Come,  Miss  Anne,  you  said  you  would  talk 
with  me." 

"  Well,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  there  is  one  thing 
which  I  do  not  like." 

"  What  is  it  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  you  do  not  keep  your  treasury  in  order." 

"  Well,  that,"  said  Lucy,  "  is  because  I  have 
got  so  many  things." 

"  Then  I  would  not  have  so  many  things ;  — 
at  least  I  would  not  keep  them  all  in  my  treasury." 

"Well,  Miss  Anne,  if  you  would  only  keep 
some  of  them  for  me,  —  then  I  could  keep  the 
rest  in  order." 

"  What  sort  of  things  should  you  wish  me  to 
keep  ? " 


14  LUcVs   CONVERSATIONS. 

4  'Why,  my  best  things,  —  my  tea-set,  I  am 
sure,  so  that  I  shall  not  lose  any  more  of  them  ; 
I  have  lost  some  of  them  now  —  one  cup  and 
two  saucers  ;  and  the  handle  of  the  pitcher  is 
broken.  Royal  broke  it.  He  said  he  would  pay 
me,  but  he  never  has." 

u  How  was  he  going  to  pay  you  ! " 

"  Why,  he  said  he  would  make  a  new  nose  for 
old  Margaret.     Her  nose  is  all  worn  off." 

"A  new  nose!  How  could  he  make  a  new 
nose  ?  "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  O,  of  putty.  He  said  he  could  make  it  of 
putt3T,  and  stick  it  on." 

"  Putty  !  "  exclaimed  Miss  Anne.  "  What  a 
boy!" 

Old  Margaret  was  an  old  doll  that  Lucy  had. 
She  was  not  big  enough  to  take  very  good  care 
of  a  doll,  and  old  Margaret  had  been  tumbled 
about  the  floors  and  carpets  until  she  was  pretty 
well  worn  out.  Still,  however,  Lucy  alvva3~s 
kept  her,  with  her  other  playthings,  in  her 
treasury. 

The  place  which  Lucy  called  her  treasury  was 
a  part  of  a  closet  or  wardrobe,  in  a  back  entrj-, 
very  near  Miss  Anne's  room.  This  closet  ex- 
tended down  to  the  floor,  and  upwards  nearly  to 
the  wall.  There  were  two  doors  above,  and  two 
below.     The  lower  part  had  been  assigned  to 


tfHE    TREASURY.  15 

Lucy,  to  keep  her  playthings  and  her  vanous 
treasures  in  ;  and  it  was  called  her  treasury. 

Her  treasury  was  not  kept  in  very  good  order. 
The  upper  shelf  contained  books,  and  the  two 
lower,  playthings.  But  all  three  of  the  shelves 
were  in  a  state  of  sad  disorder.  And  this  was  the 
reason  why  Miss  Anne  asked  her  about  it. 

"  Yes,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  that  is  the 
very  difficulty,  I  know.  I  have  got  too  many 
things  in  my  treasury  ;  and  if  you  will  keep  my 
best  things  for  me,  then  I  shall  have  room  for  the 
rest.     I'll  run  and  get  my  tea  things." 

"  But  stop,"  said  Miss  Anne.  It  seems  to  me 
that  you  had  better  keep  your  best  things  your- 
self, and  put  the  others  away  somewhere." 

"  But  where  shall  I  put  them  ?  "  a~>ked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  you  might  carry  them  up  garret,  and 
put  them  in  a  box.  Take  out  all  the  broken 
olay things,  and  the  old  papers,  and  the  things  of 
no  value,  and  put  them  in  a  box,  and  then  we 
will  get  Royal  to  nail  a  cover  on  it." 

"  Well,  —  if  I  only  had  a  box,"  said  Lucy. 

"  And  then,"  continued  Miss  Anne,  "  after  a 
good  while,  when  you  have  forgotten  all  about  the 
oox,  and  have  got  tired  of  your  playthings  in  the 
treasury,  I  can  say,  '  O  Lucy,  don't  you  re- 
member you  have  got  a  box  full  of  playthings  up  in 


16  lucy's  conversations. 

the  garret  ? '  And  then  you  can  go  up  there,  and 
Royal  will  draw  out  the  nails,  and  take  off  the 
cover,  and  you  can  look  them  all  over,  and  they 
will  be  new  again." 

"  O  aunt  Anne,  will  they  be  really  new 
again?"  said  Lucy;  "would  old  Margaret  be 
new  again  if  I  should  nail  her  up  in  a  box  ?  " 

Lucy  thought  that  new  meant  nice,  and  whole, 
and  clean,  like  things  when  they  are  first  bought 
at  the  toy-shop  or  bookstore. 

Miss  Anne  laughed  at  this  mistake;  for  she 
meant  that  they  would  be  new  to  her;  that  is, 
that  she  would  have  forgotten  pretty  much  how 
they  looked,  and  that  she  would  take  a  new  and 
fresh  interest  in  looking  at  them. 

Lucy  looked  a  little  disappointed  when  Anne 
explained  that  this  was  her  meaning;  but  she 
said  that  she  would  carry  up  some  of  the  things 
to  the  garret,  if  she  only  had  a  box  to  put  them  in, 

Miss  Anne  said  that  she  presumed  that  she 
could  find  some  box  or  old  trunk  up  there ;  and 
she  gave  Lucy  a  basket  to  put  the  things  into, 
that  were  to  be  carried  up. 

So  Lucy  took  the  basket,  and  carried  it  into  the 
entry  ;  and  she  opened  the  doors  of  her  treasury 
and  placed  the  basket  down  upon  the  floor  be- 
fore it 


ttiE    TREASURY.  1? 

Then  she  kneeled  down  herself  apon  the  oar- 
pet,  and  began  to  take  a  survey  of  the  scene  of 
confusion  before  her. 

She  took  out  several  blocks,  which  were  lyin.» 
upon  the  lower  shelf,  and  also  some  large  sheets 
of  paper  with  great  letters  printed  upon  them. 
Her  father  had  given  them  to  her  to  cut  the  let- 
ters out,  and  paste  them  into  little  books.  Next 
came  a  saucer,  with  patches  of  red,  blue,  green, 
and  yellow,  all  over  it,  made  with  water  colors, 
from  Miss  Anne's  paint-box.  She  put  these 
things  into  the  basket,  and  then  sat  still  for  some 
minutes,  not  knowing  what  to  take  next.  Not 
being  able  to  decide  herself,  she  went  back  to  ask 
Miss  Anne. 

"  What  things  do  you  think  1  had  better  carry 
away,  Miss  Anne  ?  "  said  she.  "  I  can't  tell  very 
well." 

"  1  don't  know  what  things  you  have  got  there, 
exactly,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  but  1  can  tell  you 
what  kind  of  things  I  should  take  away." 

"  Well,  what  kind  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  1  should  take  the  bulky  things." 

"  Bulky  things !  "  said  Lucy  ;  "  what  are  bulky 
things  ? " 

"  Why,  big  things  —  those  that  take  up  a  great 
deal  of  room." 


18  lucy's  conversations. 

u  Well,  what  other  kinds  of  things,  Miss  Anne  ?  " 

"  The  useless  things." 

"  Useless  ?  "  repeated  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  those  that  you  do  not  use  much." 

••'  Well,  what  others  ?  " 

"  All  the  old,  broken  tilings." 

"  Well,  and  what  else  ? " 

'<  Why,  I  think,"  replied  Miss  Anne,  "  that  il 
you  take  away  all  those,  you  will  then  probably 
have  room  enough  for  the  rest.  At  any  rate,  go 
and  get  a  basket  full  of  such  as  I  have  told  you, 
and  we  will  see  how  much  room  it  makes." 

So  Lucy  went  back,  and  began  to  take  out 
some  of  the  broken,  and  useless,  and  large  things, 
and  at  length  filled  her  basket  full.  Then  she 
carried  them  in  to  show  to  Miss  Anne.  Miss 
Anne  looked  them  over,  and  took  out  some  old 
papers  which  were  of  no  value  whatever,  and 
then  told  Lucy,  that,  if  she  would  carry  them  up 
stairs,  and  put  them  down  upon  the  garret  floor, 
she  would  herself  come  up  by  and  by,  and  find  a 
l)ox  to  put  them  in.  Lucy  did  so,  and  then  came 
downv  intending  to  get  another  basket  full. 

As  she  was  descending  the  stairs,  coming  down 
carefully  from  step  to  step,  with  one  hand  upon 
the  banisters,  and  the  other  holding  her  basket, 
singing  a  little  song,  —  her  mother,  who  was  at 


THE    TREASURY.  16 

work  in  the  parlor,  heard  her,  and  came  out  into 
the  entry. 

"  Ah,  my  little  Miss  Lucy,"  said  she,  "  I've 
found  you,  have  I  ?  Just  come  into  the  parlor  a 
minute ;  I  want  to  show  you  something." 

Lucy's  mother  smiled  when  she  said  this ;  and 
Lucy  could  not  imagine  what  it  was  that  she 
wanted  to  show  her. 

As  soon,  however,  as  she  got  into  the  room, 
her  mother  stopped  by  the  door,  and  pointed  to 
the  little  chairs  and  crickets  which  Lucy  had  left 
out  upon  the  floor  of  the  room,  when  she  had  dis- 
missed her  school.  The  rule  was,  that  she  must 
always  put  away  all  the  chairs  and  furniture  of 
every  kind  which  she  used  in  her  play  ;  and, 
when  she  forgot  or  neglected  this,  her  punishment 
was,  to  be  imprisoned  for  ten  minutes  upon  a  little 
cricket  in  the  comer,  with  nothing  to  amuse  her- 
self with  but  a  book.  And  a  book  was  not  much 
amusement  for  her ;  for  she  could  not  read ;  she 
only  knew  a  few  of  her  letters. 

As  soon,  therefore,  as  she  saw  her  mother  point- 
ing at  the  crickets  and  chairs,  she  began  at  once 
to  excuse  herself  by  saying, 

"  Well,  mother,  that  is  because  I  was  doing 
something   for  Miss  Anne.  —  No,   it   is  because 


20  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

Royal  made  me  go  away  from  my  school,  be- 
fore  it  was  done." 

"  Royal  made  you  go  away  !  how  ?  "  asked  her 
mother. 

"  Why,  he  laughed  at  me,  and  so  I  ran  aftei 
him ;  and  then  Miss  Anne  took  me  into  her  room 
and  I  forgot  all  about  my  chairs  and  crickets.,, 

"  Well,  I  am  sony  for  you  ;  but  you  must  put 
them  away,  and  then  go  to  prison." 

So  Lucy  put  away  her  crickets  and  chairs,  and 
then  went  and  took  her  seat  in  the  corner  where 
she  could  see  the  clock,  and  began  to  look  over 
her  book  to  find  such  letters  as  she  knew,  until 
the  minute-hand  had  passed  over  two  of  the  five- 
minute  spaces  upon  the  face  of  the  clock.  Then. 
*he  got  up  and  went  out ;  and,  hearing  Royal's 
voice  in  the  yard,  she  went  out  to  see  what  he 
was  doing,  and  forgot  all  about  the  work  she  had 
undertaken  at  her  treasury.  Miss  Anne  sat  in 
her  room  two  hours,  wondering  what  had  become 
of  Lucy  ;  and  finally,  when  she  came  out  of  her 
room  to  see  about  getting  tea,  she  shut  the  treasury 
doors,  and,  seeing  the  basket  upon  the  stairs,  where 
Lucy  had  left  it,  she  took  it  and  put  it  away  in 
ils  place. 


DEFINITIONS.  £1 

CONVERSATION    II 

DEFINITIONS. 

A  few  days  alter  this,  Lucy  came  into  Miss 
Anne's  room,  bringing  a  little  gray  kitten  in  her 
arms.  She  asked  Miss  Anne  if  she  would  not 
make  her  a  rolling  mouse,  for  her  kitten  to  play 
with. 

Miss  Anne  had  a  way  of  unwinding  a  ball  of 
yarn  a  little,  and  then  fastening  it  with  a  pin,  so 
that  it  would  not  unwind  any  farther.  Then 
Lucy  could  take  hold  of  the  end  of  the  yarn,  and 
roll  the  ball  about  upon  the  floor,  and  let  the 
kitten  ran  after  it.     She  called  it  her  rolling  mouse. 

Miss  Anne  made  her  a  mouse,  and  Lucy  played 
with  it  for  some  time.  At  last  the  kitten  scam- 
pered away,  and  Lucy  could  not  find  her.  Then 
Anne  proposed  to  Lucy  that  she  should  finish  the 
work  of  re-arranging  her  treasury. 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  if  you  re- 
member what  I  told  you  the  other  day.  What 
were  die  kinds  of  things  that  I  advised  vou  tc 
cany  away  ? " 


22 


"  Why,  there  were  the  sulky  things." 

"  The  what !  "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  No,  the  big  things,  —  the  big  things,"  said 
Lucy. 

"The  bulky  things,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "no! 
the  sulky  things  !  " 

"  Well,  it  sounded  like  sulky"  said  Lucy ; 
"  but  I  thought  it  was  not  exactly  that." 

"  No,  not  exactly,  —  but  it  was  not  a  very  great 
mistake.  1  said  useless  things,  and  bulky  things, 
and  you  got  the  sounds  confounded." 

"  Con —  what  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Confounded,  —  that  is,  mixed  together.  Yoi 
got  the  s  sound  of  useless,  instead  of  the  b  sound 
of  bulky ;  but  bulky  and  sulky  mean  very  different 
things." 

"  What  does  sulky  mean  ?  I  know  that  bulky 
means  big." 

"  Sulkiness  is  a  kind  of  ill-humor." 

"What  kind?" 

"  Why,  it  is  the  silent  kind.  If  a  little  girl 
who  is  out  of  humor,  complains  and  cries,  we  say 
she  is  fretful  or  cross ;  but  if  she  goes  away 
pouting  and  still,  but  yet  plainly  out  of  humor, 
they  sometimes  say  she  is  sulky.  A  good  many 
of  your  playthings  are  bulky ;  but  I  don't  think 


DEFINITIONS.  23 

any  of  them   are  sulky,  unless  it  be  old  Marga 
ret.     Does  she  ever  get  out  of  humor  ?  " 

"  Sometimes,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  then  1  shut 
her  up  in  a  corner.  Would  you  carry  old  Mar- 
garet up  garret  ? " 

"  Why,  she  takes  up  a  good  deal  of  room,  does 
not  she? "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  ever  so  much  room.  1 
cannot  make  her  sit  up,  and  she  lies  down  all  over 
my  cups  and  saucers." 

"  Then  I  certainly  would  carry  her  up  garret." 

"And  would  you  carry  up  her  bonnet  and 
shawl  too  ?  " 

"  Yes,  all  that  belongs  to  her." 

"  Then,"  said  Lucy,  "  whenever  I  want  to 
play  with  her,  I  shall  have  to  go  away  up  garret, 
to  get  all  her  things." 

"  Very  well ;  you  can  do  just  as  you  think  best  " 

"  Well,  would  you  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  I  should,  myself,  if  I  were  in  vour  case ;  and 
only  keep  such  things  in  my  treasuiv  as  are  neat, 
and  whole,  and  in  good  order." 

"  But  I  play  with  old  Margaret  a  great  deal,  — 
almost  every  day,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Perhaps,  then,  you  had  better  not  carry  her 
away.  Do  just  which  you  think  you  shall  like 
best." 


24  lucy's  conversations. 

Lucy  began  to  walk  towards  the  aoor  She 
moved  quite  slowly,  because  she  was  uncertain 
whether  to  cany  her  old  doll  up  stairs  or  not. 
Presently  she  turned  around  again,  and  said; 

"  Well,  Miss  Anne,  which  would  you  do  ? " 

"  I  have  told  you  that  /  should  carry  her  up 
stairs ;  but  I'll  tell  you  what  you  can  do.  You 
can  play  that  she  has  gone  away  on  a  visit ;  and 
so  let  her  stay  up  garret  a  few  days,  and  then,  if 
you  find  you  cannot  do  without  her,  you  can  make 
believe  that,  you  must  send  for  her  to  come  home." 

"  So  I  can,"  said  Lucy ;  "  that  will  be  a  good 
plan." 

Lucy  went  immediately  to  the  treasury,  and 
took  old  Margaret  out,  and  everything  that  be- 
longed to  her.  This  almost  made  a  basket  full, 
and  she  carried  it  off  up  stairs.  Then  she  came 
back,  and  got  another  basket  full,  and  another, 
until  at  last  she  had  removed  nearly  half  of  the 
things ;  and  then  she  thought  that  there  would  be 
plenty  of  room  to  keep  the  rest  in  order.  And 
every  basket  full  which  she  had  carried  up,  she 
had  always  brought  first  to  Miss  Anne,  to  let  her 
look  over  the  things,  and  see  whether  they  had 
better  all  go.  Sometimes  Lucy  had  got  some- 
thing in  her  basket  which  Miss  Anne  thought  had 
better  remain,  and  be  kept  in  the  treasury ;  and 


DEFINITIONS.  25 

some  of  the  things  Miss  Anne  said  were  good  for 
nothing  at  all,  and  had  better  be  burnt,  or  thrown 
away,  such  as  old  papers,  and  some  shapeless 
blocks,  and  broken  bits  of  china  ware.  At  last 
the  work  was  all  done,  the  basket  put  away,  and 
Lucy  came  and  sat  down  by  Miss  Anne. 

"Well,  Lucy,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "you  have 
been  quite  industrious  and  persevering." 

Lucy  did  not  know  exactly  what  Miss  Anne 
meant  by  these  words ;  but  she  knew  by  her 
countenance  and  her  tone  of  voice,  that  it  was 
something  in  her  praise. 

"  But  perhaps  you  do  not  know  what  I  mean, 
exactly,"  she  added. 

"  No,  not  exactly,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  a  girl  is  industrious  when  she  keeps 
steadily  at  work  all  the  time,  until  her  work  is 
done.  If  you  had  stopped  when  you  had  got 
your  basket  half  full,  and  had  gone  to  playing 
with  the  things,  you  would  not  have  been  indus- 
trious." 

"  1  did,  a  little,  —  with  my  guinea  peas,"  said 
1  iucy. 

"  It  is  best,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  when  you  have 
anything  like  that  to  do,  to  keep  industriously  at 
work  until  it  is  finished." 
3 


26  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

"  But  I  only  wanted  to  look  at  my  guinea  ixras 
a  little." 

"  O,  I  don't  think  that  was  very  wrong,"  saia 
Miss  Anne.  "Only  it  would  have  been  a  lttle 
better  if  you  had  put  them  back  upon  the  shelf, 
md  said,  '  Now,  as  soon  as  I  have  finished  n  y 
work,  then  I'll  take  out  my  guinea  peas  and  look 
at  them.'  You  would  have  enjoyed  looking  at 
them  more  when  your  work  was  done." 

"  You  said  that  I  was  something  else  besides 
industrious." 

"  Yes,  persevering,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  What  is  that  ?  " 

"  Why,  that  is  keeping  on  steadily  at  youi 
work,  and  not  giving  it  up  until  it  is  entirely  fin- 
ished." 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  T  thought 
that  was  industrious." 

Here  Miss  Anne  began  to  laugh,  and  Lucy 
said, 

"  Now,  what  are  you  laughing  at,  Miss  Anne  ? ' 
She  thought  that  she  was  laughing  at  her. 

"  O,  I  am  not  laughing  at  you,  but  at  my  owr 
definitions." 

"  Definitions !  What  are  definitions,  Mis* 
Anne?"  said  Lucy. 


DEFINITIONS.  27 

"  Why,  explanations  of  the  meanings  of  words. 
You  asked  me  what  was  the  meaning  of  indns- 
trious  and  persevering ;  and  I  tried  to  explain 
them  to  you  ;  that  is,  to  tell  you  the  definition  of 
them  ;  but  I  gave  pretty  much  the  same  definition 
for  both  ;  when,  in  fact,  they  mean  quite  different 
things." 

"  Then  why  did  not  you  give  me  different  def- 
initions, Miss  Anne  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  very  hard  to  give  good  definitions," 
said  she. 

"  I  should  not  think  it  would  be  hard.  I  should 
think,  if  you  knew  what  the  words  meant,  you 
could  just  tell  me." 

"  I  can  tell  you  in  another  way,"  said  Miss 
Anne.  "  Suppose  a  boy  should  be  sent  into  the 
pasture  to  find  the  cow,  and  should  look  about  a 
little  while,  and  then  come  home  and  say  that  he 
could  not  find  her,  when  he  had  only  looked  over 
a  very  small  part  of  the  pasture.  He  would  not 
be  persevering.  Perhaps  there  was  a  brook,  and 
some  woods  that  he  ought  to  go  through  and  look 
beyond ;  but  he  gave  up,  we  will  suppose,  and 
thought  he  would  not  go  over  the  brook,  but 
would  rather  come  home  and  say  that  he  could 
not  find  the  cow.  Now,  a  boy,  in  such  a  case, 
would  not  be  persevering." 


28  LUCY  S    CONVERSATIONS. 

"  I  should  have  liked  to  go  over  the  brook," 
said  Lucy. 

■f  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  no  doubt ;  but  we 
may  suppose  that  he  had  been  over  it  so  often, 
eliat  he  did  not  care  about  going  again,  —  and  so 
ne  turned  back  and  came  home,  without  having 
finished  his  work." 

"  His  work  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  —  his  duty,  of  looking  for  the  cow  until 
he  found  her.  He  was  sent  to  find  the  cow,  but 
he  did  not  do  it.  He  became  discouraged,  and 
gave  up  too  easily.  He  did  not  persevere.  Per- 
haps he  kept  looking  about  all  the  time,  while  he 
was  in  the  pasture ;  and  went  into  all  the  little 
groves  and  valleys  where  the  cow  might  be  hid ; 
and  so  he  was  industrious  while  he  was  look- 
ing for  the  cow,  but  he  did  not  persevere. 

"  And  so  you  see,  Lucy,"  continued  Miss  Anne, 
u  a  person  might  persevere  without  being  indus- 
trious. For  once  there  was  a  girl  named  Julia. 
She  had  a  flower-garden.  She-  went  out  one 
morning  to  weed  it.  She  pulled  up  some  of  the 
weeds,  and  then  she  went  off  to  see  a  butterfly ; 
and  after  a  time  she  came  back,  and  worked  a 
little  longer.  Then  son  e  children  came  to  see 
her  ;  and  she  sat  down  upon  a  seat,  and  talked  with 
them  some  time,  and  left  her  work.     In  this  way 


DEFINITIONS.  29 

she  kept  continually  stopping  to  play.  She  was 
not  industrious." 

"And  did  she  per  sever  e'V  asked  Lucy. 

"Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "She  persevered. 
For  when  the  other  children  wanted  her  to  go 
away  with  them  and  play,  she  would  not.  She 
said  she  did  not  mean  to  go  out  of  the  garden 
until  she  had  finished  weeding  her  flowers.  So, 
after  the  children  had  gone  away,  she  went  back 
to  her  work,  and  after  a  time  she  got  it  done. 
She  was  persevering ;  that  is,  she  would  not  give 
up  what  she  had  undertaken  until  it  was  finished  ; 
—  but  she  was  not  industrious  ;  that  is,  she  did 
not  work  all  the  time  steadily,  while  she  was  en- 
gaged in  doing  it.  It  would  have  been  better  for 
her  to  have  been  industrious  and  persevering 
too,  for  then  she  would  have  finished  her  work 
sooner." 

As  Miss  Anne  said  these  words,  she  heard  a 
voice  out  in  the  yard  calling  to  her. 

"Miss  Anne!" 

Miss  Anne  looked  out  at  the  window  to  see 
who  it  was.     It  was  Royal. 

' c  Is  Lucy  in  there  with  you  ?  "  asked  Royal. 

Miss  Anne  said  that  she  was  ;  and  at  the  same 
time,  Lucy,  who  heard  Royal's  voice,  ran  to 
another  window,  and  climbed  up  into  a  chair,  so 
that  she  could  look  out. 


30 


"  Lucy,"  said  Rdyal,  "  come  out  here." 

"  O,  no,"  said  Lucy.  "  I  can't  come  now. 
Miss  Anne  is  telling  me  stories." 

Royal  was  seated  on  a  large,  flat  stone,  which 
had  been  placed  in  a  corner  of  the  yard,  under 
some  trees,  for  a  seat ;  he  was  cutting  a  stick  with 
his  knife.  His  cap  was  lying  upon  the  stone,  by 
his  side.  When  Lucy  said  that  she  could  not 
come  out,  he  put  his  hand  down  upon  his  cap, 
and  said, 

'•  Come  out  and  see  what  I  *ve  got  under  my 
cap." 

"  What  is  it?"  said  Lucy. 

"  I  can't  tell  you ;  it  is  a  secret.  If  you  will 
come  out,  I  will  let  you  see  it." 

"  Do  tell  me  what  it  is." 

"  No,"  said  Royal. 

"  Tell  me  something  about  it,"  said  Lucy,  u  at 
any  rate." 

"Well,"  said  Royal,  "I  will  tell  you  one 
thing,  it  is  not  a  bird." 

Lucy  concluded  that  it  must  be  some  curious 
animal  or  other,  if  it  was  not  a  bird  ;  and  so  she 
told  Miss  Anne  that  she  believed  she  would  go 
out  and  see,  and  then  she  would  come  in  again 
directly,  and  hear  the  rest  that  she  had  to  say. 
So  she  went  out  to  see  what  Royal  had  got  under 
his  cap. 


DEFINITION'S.  33 

Miss  Anne  suspected  that  Royal  had  not  got 
anything  under  his  cap  ;  but  that  it  was  only  his 
contrivance  to  excite  Lucy's  curiosity,  and  induce 
her  to  come  out. 

And  this  turned  out  to  be  the  fact ;  for,  when 
Lucy  went  up  to  where  Royal  was  sitting,  and 
asked  him  what  it  was,  he  just  lifted  up  his  cap, 
and  said,  it  was  that  monstrous,  great,  flat  stone ! 

At  first,  Lucy  was  displeased,  and  was  going 
directly  back  into  the  house  again  ;  but  Royal 
told  her  that  he  was  making  a  windmill,  and  that, 
if  she  would  stay  there  and  keep  him  company, 
he  would  let  her  run  with  it,  when  it  was  done. 
So  Lucy  concluded  to  remain. 


34  lucy's  conversations. 

CONVERSATION   III. 
THE    GLEN. 

Behind  the  house  that  Lucy  lived  in,  there 
was  a  path,  winding  among  trees,  which  was  a  very 
pleasant  path  to  take  a  walk  in.  Lucy  and  Roy- 
al often  went  to  take  a  walk  there.  They  almost 
always  went  that  way  when  Miss  Anne  could  go 
with  them,  for  she  liked  the  place  very  much.  It 
led  to  a  strange  sort  of  a  place,  where  there  were 
trees,  and  high,  rocky  banks,  and  a  brook  running 
along  in  the  middle,  with  a  broad  plank  to  go 
across.     Miss  Anne  called  it  the  glen. 

One  morning  Miss  Anne  told  Lucy  that  she 
was  going  to  be  busy  for  two  hours,  and  that  after 
that  she  was  goinof  to  take  a  walk  down  to  the 
glen ;  and  that  Lucy  might  go  with  her,  if  she 
would  like  to  go.  Of  course  Lucy  liked  the  plan 
very  much.  When  the  time  arrived,  they  set  off, 
going  out  through  the  garden  gate.  Miss  Anne 
had  a  parasol  in  one  hand  and  a  book  in  the  other. 
Lucy  ran  along  be  ore  her,  and  opened  the  gate. 

They  heard  a  voice  behind  them  calling  out 


THE    GLFN.  35 

"  Miss  Anne,  where  are  you  going  ? " 

They  looked  round.     It  was  Royal,  sitting  a 
the  window  of  a  Hide  room,  where  he  used  to 
study. 

"  We  are  going  to  take  a  walk,  —  down  to  the 
glen,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  I  wish  you  would  wait  for  me,"  said  Royal, 
"  only  a  few  minutes ;  the  sand  is  almost  out." 

He  meant  the  sand  of  his  hour-glass ;  for  he  had 
an  hour-glass  upon  the  table,  in  his  little  room,  to 
measure  the  time  for  study.  He  had  to  study  one 
hour  in  the  afternoon,  and  was  not  allowed  to 
leave  his  room  until  the  sand  had  all  run  out. 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  loud  voice,  calling  out 
to  Royal ;  "  we  can't  wait." 

"  Perhaps  we  had  better  wait  for  him,"  said 
Miss  Anne,  in  a  low  voice,  to  Lucy.  "  He  would 
like  to  go  with  us.  And,  besides,  he  can  help  you 
across  the  brook." 

Lucy  seemed  a  little  unwilling  to  wait,  but  on 
the  whole  she  consented;  and  Miss  Anne  sat 
down  upon  a  seat  in  the  garden,  while  Lucy 
played  about  in  the  walks,  until  Royal  came 
down,  with  his  hatchet  in  his  hand.  They  then 
walked  all  along  together. 

When  chey  got  to  the  glen,  Miss  Anne  went 
up  a  w:nding  path  to  a  seat,  where  she  used  to 


36  lucy's  conversations. 

love  to  sit  and  read.  There  was  a  beautiful  pros- 
pect from  it,  all  around.  Royal  and  Lucy  re- 
mained down  in  the  little  valley  to  play  ;  but  Miss 
Anne  told  them  that  they  must  not  go  out  of  her 
sight. 

"  But  how  can  we  tell,"  said  Royal,  "  what 
places  you  can  see  ?  " 

"  O,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  look  up  now  and  then, 
and  if  you  can  see  me,  in  my  seat,  you  will  be 
safe.     If  you  can  see  me,  I  can  see  you." 

"  Come,"  said  Royal,  "  let  us  go  down  to  the 
bridge,  and  go  across  the  brook." 

The  plank  which  Royal  called  a  bridge,  was 
down  below  the  place  where  Miss  Anne  went  up 
to  her  seat,  and  Royal  and  Lucy  began  to  walk 
along  slowly  towards  it. 

"  But  I  am  afraid  to  go  over  that  plank,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  Afraid  !  "  said  Royal ;  "  you  need  not  be 
afraid  ;  it  is  not  dangerous." 

"  I  think  it  is  dangerous,"  said  Lucy ;  "  it  bends 
a  great  deal." 

"  Bends  !  "  exclaimed  Royal  "  the  bending 
does  no  harm.  I  will  lead  you  over  as  safe  as 
dry  ground.  Besides,  there  is  something  ovei 
there  that  I  want  to  show  you  " 

"What  is  it?"  said  Lucy. 


THE    GLEN.  37 

"  O,  something,"  said  Royal. 

"  I  don't  believe  there  is  anything  at  all,"  saic 
Lacy, "  any  more  than  there  was  under  your  cap." 

"O  Lucy!  there  was  something  under  my 
cap." 

k<  No,  there  wasn't,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  that  great,  flat  stone." 

"  In  your  cap,  I  mean,"  said  Lucy ;  "  that 
wasn't  in  your  cap." 

"  In !  "  said  Royal ;  "  that  is  a  very  different 
sort  of  a  preposition." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  a  preposi- 
tion," said  Lucy  ;  "  but  I  know  you  told  me  there 
was  something  in  your  cap,  and  that  is  what  I 
came  out  to  see." 

"  Under,  Lucy ;  I  said  under" 

"  Well,  you  meant  in ;  I  verily  believe  you 
meant  in." 

Lucy  was  right.  Royal  did  indeed  say  under, 
but  he  meant  to  have  her  understand  that  there 
was  something  in  his  cap,  and  lying  upon  the 
great,  flat  stone. 

"  And  so  you  told  me  a  falsehood,"  said  Lucy. 

"  O  Lucy  !  "  said  Royal,  "  I  would  not  tell  a 
falsehood  for  all  the  world." 

"  Yes,  you  told  me  a  falsehood ;  and  now  1 
don't  believe  you  about  anything  over  the  brook. 


38  LUCYS    CONVERSATIONS. 

For  Miss  Anne  told  me,  one  day,  that  when  any- 
body told  a  falsehood,  we  must  not  believe  then, 
even  if  they  tell  the  truth." 

"  O  Lucy  !  Lucy  !  "  said  Royal,  "  I  don't  be* 
lieve  she  ever  said  any  such  a  word." 

"  Yes  she  did,"  said  Lucy.  But  Lucy  said 
rfiis  rather  hesitatingly,  for  she  felt  some  doubt 
whether  she  was  quoting  what  Miss  Anne  had 
told  her,  quite  correctly. 

Here,  however,  the  children  arrived  at  the  bridge, 
and  Royal  was  somewhat  at  a  loss  what  to  do. 
He  wanted  very  much  to  go  over,  and  to  have 
Lucy  go  over  too ;  but  by  his  not  being  perfectly 
honest  before,  about  what  was  under  his  cap, 
Lucy  had  lost  her  confidence  in  him,  and  would 
not  believe  what  he  said.  At  first  he  thought 
that  if  she  would  not  go  with  him,  he  would 
threaten  to  go  off  and  leave  her.  But  in  a  mo- 
ment he  reflected  that  this  would  make  her  cry, 
and  that  would  cause  Miss  Anne  to  come  down 
from  her  seat,  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  which 
might  lead  to  ever  so  much  difficulty.  Besides,  he 
thought  that  he  had  not  done  exactly  right  about 
the  cap  story,  and  so  he  determined  to  treat  Lucy 
kindly. 

"If  I  manage  gently  with  her,"  said  he  to  him 
self,  "she  will  want  to  come  across  herself  pretty 
soon.' ' 


THE    GLEN.  39 

Accordingly,  when  Royal  got  to  the  plank,  he 
said, 

"  Well,  Lucy,  if  you  had  rather  stay  on  this 
side,  you  can.  I  want  to  go  over,  but  I  won't  go 
very  far ;  and  you  can  play  about  here." 

So  Royal  went  across  upon  the  plank ;  when 
he  had  got  to  the  middle  of  it,  he  sprang  up  and 
down  upon  it  with  his  whole  weight,  in  order  to 
show  Iiucy  how  strong  it  was.  He  then  walked 
along  by  the  bank,  upon  the  other  side  of  the 
brook,  and  began  to  look  into  the  water,  watching 
for  fishes. 

Lucy's  curiosity  became  considerably  excited  by 
what  Royal  was  constantly  saying  about  his  fishes 
First  he  said  he  saw  a  dozen  little  fishes ;  then, 
going  a  little  farther,  he  saw  two  pretty  big 
ones ;  and  Lucy  came  down  to  the  bank  upon 
her  side  of  the  brook,  but  she  could  not  get  very 
near,  on  account  of  the  bushes.  She  had  a  great 
mind  to  ask  Royal  to  come  and  help  her  across, 
when  all  at  once  he  called  out  very  eagerly, 

"  O  Lucy  !  Lucy !  here  is  a  great  turtle,  •—  a 
monster  of  a  turtle,  as  big  as  the  top  of  n»y  head 
Here  he  goes,  paddling  along  over  the  stones." 

"  Where  ?  where  ? "  said  Lucy.  "  Let  me  see. 
Come  and  help  me  across,  Royal." 

Royal  ran  back  to  the  plank,  keeping  a  watch 


40  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

over  tlie  turtle,  as  well  as  he  could,  all  the  time 
He  helped  Lucy  across,  and  then  they  ran  up  to 
the  place,  and  Royal  pointed  into  the  water. 

"  There,  Lucy !  See  there  !  A  real  turtle  !  See 
his  tail !    It  is  as  sharp  as  a  dagger." 

It  was  true.  There  was  a  real  turtle  resting 
upon  the  sand  in  a  shallow  place  in  the  water. 
His  head  and  his  four  paws  were  projecting  out 
of  his  shell,  and  his  long,  pointed  tail,  like  a  rud- 
der, floated  in  the  water  behind. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy.  "  I  see  him.  I  see  his 
head." 

"  Now,  Lucy,"  said  Royal,  "  we  must  not  let 
him  get  away.  We  must  make  a  pen  for  him.  I 
can  make  a  pen.  You  stay  here  and  watch  him, 
while  I  go  and  get  ready  to  make  a  pen." 

"  How  can  you  make  it?  "  said  Luc). 

"  O,  you'll  see,"  said  Royal ;  and  he  took  up 
his  hatchet,  which  he  had  before  laid  down  upon 
the  grass,  and  Vent  into  the  bushes,  and  began 
cutting,  as  if  he  was  cutting  some  of  them  down 

Lucy  remained  some  time  watching  the  turtle. 
He  lay  quite  still,  with  his  head  partly  out  of  the 
water.  The  sun  shone  upon  the  place,  and  per 
haps  that  was  the  reason  why  he  remained  si 
still ;  for  turtles  are  said  to  like  to  bask  in  th» 
beams  of  the  sun. 


THE    GLEN.  4l 

After  a  time,  Royal  came  to  the  place  with  an 
armiul  of  stakes,  about  three  feet  long.  He  threw 
them  down  upon  xhe  bank,  and  then  began  to 
look  around  for  a  suitable  place  to  build  his  pen. 
He  chose,  at  last,  a  place  in  the  water,  near  the 
shore.  The  water  there  was  not  deep,  and  the 
bottom  was  sandy. 

"  This  will  be  a  good  place,"  he  said  to  Lucy 
•'  I  will  make  his  pen  here." 

"  How  are  you  going  to  make  it? "  said  Lucy 

u  Why,  I  am  going  to  drive  these  stakes  down 
in  a  kind  of  a  circle,  so  near  together  that  he  can't 
get  out  between  them ;  and  they  are  so  tall  that 
L  know  he  can't  get  over." 

"And  how  are  you  going  to  get  him  in?" 
said  Lucy. 

"  O,  I  shall  leave  one  stake  out,  till  I  get  him 
in,"  answered  Royal.  "We  can  drive  him  in 
with  long  sticks.  But  you  must  not  mind  me  ; 
you  must  watch  the  turtle,  or  he  will  get  away." 

So  Royal  began  to  drive  the  stakes.  Pres- 
ently Lucy  said  that  the  turtle  was  stirring. 
Royal  looked,  but  he  found  he  was  not  going 
away,  and  so  he  went  on  with  his  work  ;  and  be- 
fore long  he  had  a  place  fenced  in  with  his  stakes, 
about  as  large  round  as  a  boy's  hoop.  It  waj 
4* 


42 


all  fenced,  excepting  in  one  place,  which  he  left 
open  to  get  the  turtle  through. 

The  two  children  then  contrived,  by  means  of 
two  long  sticks,  which  Royal  cut  from  among  the 
bushes,  to  get  the  turtle  into  his  prison.  The 
poor  reptile  hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  such 
treatment.  He  went  tumbling  along  through  the 
water,  half  pushed,  half  driven. 

When  he  was  fairly  in,  Royal  drove  down  the 
last  stake  in  the  vacant  space  which  had  been 
left.  The  turtle  swam  about,  pushing  his  head 
against  the  bars  in  several  places;  and  when 
he  found  that  he  could  not  get  out,  he  remained 
quietly  in  the  middle. 

"  There,"  said  Royal,  "  that  will  do.  Now  1 
wish  Miss  Anne  would  come  down  here,  and  see 
him.     I  should  like  to  see  what  she  would  say." 

Miss  Anne  did  come  down  after  a  while ; 
and  when  the  children  saw  her  descending  the 
path,  they  called  out  to  her  aloud  to  come  there 
and  see.  She  came,  and  when  she  reached  the 
bank  opposite  to  the  turtle  pen,  she  stood  still  for 
a  few  minutes,  looking  at  it,  with  a  smile  of  cu- 
riosity and  interest  upon  her  face ;  but  she  did  not 
speak  a  word. 


A    PRISONER.  43 


CONVERSATION    IV. 
A    PRISONER. 

After  a  little  while,  they  all  left  the  turtle,  and 
went  rambling  around,  among  the  rocks  and  tree'*. 
At  last  Royal  called  out  to  them  to  come  to  a 
large  tree,  where  he  was  standing.  He  was  look 
ing  up  into  it.  Lucy  ran  fast ;  she  thought  it 
was  a  bird's  nest.  Miss  Anne  came  along  after- 
wards, singing.  Royal  showed  them  a  long, 
straight  branch,  which  extended  out  horizontally 
from  the  tree,  and  said  that  it  would  be  an  excel- 
lent place  to  make  a  swing. 

"  So  it  would,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  if  we  only 
had  a  rope." 

"I've  got  a  rope  at  home,"  said  Royal,  "  if 
Lucy  would  only  go  and  get  it,  —  while  I  cut  off 
some  of  the  small  branches,  which  are  in  the 
way. 

"  Come,  Lucy,"  he  continued,  "  go  and  gel 
my  rope.     It  is  hanging  up  in  the  shed." 

"  O  no,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  1  can't  reach  it." 

"  O,  vou  can  get  a  chair,"  said  Royal ;  "  or 


44 


L.UCY  S     CONVLUSATIONS. 


Jol  -.na  will  hand  it  to  you  ;  she  will  be  close  by# 
in  tie  kitchen.  Come,  Lucy,  go,  that  is  a  goo^ 
girl ;    and  I'll  pay  you." 

"  What  will  you  give  me?"  said  Lucy. 

"  O,  I  don't  know ;  but  I'll  give  you  some- 
thing." 

But  Lucy  did  not  seem  quite  inclined  to  go. 
She  said  she  did  not  want  to  go  so  far  alone  ; 
though,  in  fact,  it  was  only  a  very  short  distance. 
Besides,  she  had  not  much  confidence  in  Royal's 
promise. 

•''  Will  you  go,  Lucy,  if  /  will  promise  to  give 
you  something  ? "   said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy. 

"Well,  I  will,"  said  Miss  Anne;  "I  can't 
tell  you  what,  now,  for  I  don't  know  ;  but  it 
shall  be  something  you  will  like. 

"  But,  Royal,"  she  added,  "  what  shall  we  do 
for  a  seat  m  our  swing  ?  " 

"  Why,  we  must  have  a  board  —  a  short 
board,  with  two  notches.  I  know  how  to  cut 
them." 

"  Yes,  if  you  only  had  a  board  ;  but  there  are 
no  boards  down  here.  I  think  you  had  better  go 
with  Lucy,  and  then  you  can  bring  down  s 
board." 

Royal  said  that  it  would  take  some  time  to  saw 


A    PRISONER.  4.5 

off  the  board,  and  cut  the  notches  ;  and,  finally, 
they  concluded  to  postpone  making  the  swing 
until  the  next  time  they  came  down  to  the  glen ; 
and  then  they  would  bring  down  whatever  should 
be  necessary,  with  them. 

As  they  were  walking  slowly  along,  after  this, 
towards  home,  Royal  said  something  about  Lu- 
cy's not  being  willing  to  go  for  his  promise,  as 
well  as  for  Miss  Anne's,  —  which  led  to  the  fol- 
lowing conversation  :  — 

Lucy.  I  don't  believe  you  were  going  to  give 
me  anything  at  all. 

Royal.    O  Lucy  !  —  I  was,  —  I  certainly  was. 

Lucy.  Then  I  don't  believe  that  it  would  be 
inything  that  1  should  like. 

Royal.  But  I  don't  see  how  you  could  tell 
anything  about  it,  unless  you  knew  what  it  was 
going  to  be. 

Luct,  .  I  don't  believe  it  would  be  anything  ; 
do  you,  Miss  Anne  ? 

Miss  Anne.  I  don't  know  anything  about  it, 
I  should  not  think  that  Royal  would  break  hia 
promise. 

Lucy.  He  does  break  his  promises.  He  won't 
mend  old  Margaret's  nose. 

Royal.      Well,   Lucy,   that   is    because   m> 


46 


putty  has  all  dried  up.     I  am  going  to  do  it,  just 
as  soon  as  I  can  get  any  more  putty. 

Lucy,  And  that  makes  me  think  about  the 
thing  in  your  cap.  I  mean  to  ask  Miss  Anne  if 
you  did  not  tell  a  falsehood.  He  said  there  was 
something  in  his  cap,  and  there  was  nothing  in 
it  at  all.     It  was  only  on  the  great,  flat  stone. 

Royal,  O,  under,  Lucy,  under,  I  certainly 
said  under, 

Lucy,  Well,  you  meant  in ;  I  know  you  did 
Wasn't  it  a  falsehood  ? 

Miss  Anne,     Did  he  say  in,  or  under  1 

Royal.     Under,  under ;  it  was  ^ertainly  under. 

Miss  Anne.  Then  I  don't  think  it  was  exact- 
ly a  falsehood. 

Lucy,  Well,  it  was  as  bad  as  a  falsehood,  at 
any  rate. 

Royal.  Was  it  as  bad  as  a  falsehood,  Mis* 
Anne? 

Miss  Anne,  Let  us  consider  a  little.  Lucy, 
what  do  you  think  ?  Suppose  he  had  said  that 
there  was  really  something  in  his  cap,  —  do  you 
think  it  would  have  been  no  worse  ? 

Lucy.     I  don't  know. 

Miss  Anne.  I  think  it  would  have  been  worse 

Royal.     Yes,  a  great  deal  worse. 


A    PRISONER.  4? 

Miss  Anne.  He  deceived  you,  perhaps, bit  he 
did  not  tell  a  falsehood. 

Lucy.  Well,  Miss  Anne,  and  isn't  it  wrong 
for  him  to  deceive  me  ? 

Miss  Anne.    I  think  it  was  unwise,  at  any  rate 

Royal.  Why  was  it  unwise,  Miss  Anne?  1 
wanted  her  to  come  >ut,  and  I  knew  she  would 
like  to  be  out  there,  ii  she  would  only  once  come. 
Besides,  I  thought  it  vould  make  her  laugh  when 
I  came  to  lift  up  my  cap  and  show  her  that  great, 
flat  stone. 

Miss  Anne.     And  did  she  laugh  ? 

Royal.  Why,  not  much.  She  said  she  meant 
to  go  right  into  the  house  again. 

Miss  Anne.  Instead  of  being  pleased  with  the 
wit,  she  was  displeased  at  being  imposed  upon 

Royal  laughed. 

Miss  Anne.  The  truth  is,  Royal,  that,  though 
it  is  rather  easier,  sometimes,  to  get  along  by  wit 
than  by  honesty,  yet  you  generally  have  to 
pay  for  it  afterwards. 

Royal.     How  do  we  have  to  pay  for  it  ? 

Miss  Anne.  Why,  Lucy  has  lost  her  confi- 
dence in  you.  You  rannot  get  her  to  go  and  get 
a  rope  for  ycu  by  merely  promising  her  something, 
while  1  can.  She  confides  in  me,  and  not  in 
you.     She  is  afraid  you  will  find  some  ingenious 


48  lucy's  conversations. 

escape  or  other  from  fulfilling  it.  Wit  gives  any- 
body a  present  advantage,  but  honesty  gives  a  last- 
ing power ;  so  that  the  influence  I  have  ovei 
Lucy,  by  always  being  honest  with  her,  is  worth 
a  great  deal  more  than  all  you  can  accomplish 
with  your  contrivances.  So  I  think  you  had  bet- 
ter keep  your  wits  and  your  contrivances  for  tur- 
tles, and  always  be  honest  with  men. 

Royal.     Men  !     Lucy  isn't  a  man. 

Miss  Anne.  I  mean  mankind  —  men,  women, 
and  children. 

Royal.  Well,  about  my  turtle,  Miss  Anne. 
Do  you  think  that  I  can  keep  him  in  his  pen  ? 

Miss  Anne.     Yes,  unless  he  digs  out. 

Royal.     Dig  ?  —  Can  turtles  dig  much  ? 

Miss  Anne.  I  presume  they  can  work  into 
mud,  and  sand,  and  soft  ground. 

Royal.  Then  I  must  get  a  great,  flat  stone, 
and  put  into  the  bottom  of  his  pen.  He  can't  dig 
through  that. 

Miss  Anne.  I  should  rather  make  his  pen 
larger,  and  then  perhaps  he  won't  want  to  get  out. 
You  might  find  some  cove  in  the  brook,  where  the 
water  is  deep,  for  him,  and  then  drive  your  stakes 
in  the  shallow  water  all  around  it.  And  then,  if 
you  choose,  you  could  extend  it  up  upon  the 
shore,  and  ro  let  him  have  a  walk  upon  the  land, 


A.    PRISONER.  49 

within  his  bounds.  Then,  perhaps,  sometimes, 
vvhen  you  come  down  to  see  him,  you  may  find 
him  up  upon  the  grass,  sunning  himself* 

Royal.  Yes,  that  I  shall  like  veiy  much.  It 
will  take  a  great  many  stakes  ;  but  I  can  cut  them 
with  my  hatchet.  I'll  call  it  my  turtle  pasture. 
Perhaps  I  shall  find  some  more  to  put  in. 

Lucy.  I  don't  think  it  is  yours,  altogether 
Royal. 

Royal.     Why,  I  found  him. 

Lucy.  Yes,  but  I  watched  him  for  you,  or 
else  he  would  have  got  away.  I  think  you  ought 
ju  let  me  own  a  share. 

Royal.  But  I  made  the  pen  altogether  my- 
self. 

Lucy.     And  I  helped  you  drive  the  turtle  in. 

Royal.  O  Lucy  !  I  don't  think  you  did  much 
good. 

Miss  Aune.     I'll  tell  you  what,  Lucy  ;  if  Roy- 
al found  the  turtle  and  made  the  pen,  and  if  you 
watched  him    and  helped    drive  him  in,  then  J 
think  you  ought  to  own  about  one  third,  and  Roy 
dl  two  thirds. 

Royal     Well. 

Miss  Anne.  But,  then,  Royal,  why  would  it 
not  be  a  good  plan  for  you  to  let  her  have  as 
much  of  your  share  as  will  make  hers  half,  and 


50 


yours  half,  to  pay  her  for  the  trouble  you  gavu  her 
by  the  cap  story  ? 

Royal.     To  pay  her  ? 

Miss  Anne.  Yes,  —  a  sort  of  damages.  Theiv 
if  you  are  careful  not  to  deceive  her  any  more, 
Lucy  will  pass  over  the  old  cases,  and  place  con- 
fidence in  you  for  the  future. 

Royal.     Well,  Lucy,  you  shall  have  half. 

Lucy  clapped  her  hands  with  delight  at  this 
concession,  and  soon  after  the  children  reached 
uome.  The  next  day,  Royal  and  Lucy  went 
down  to  see  the  turtle ;  and  Royal  made  him  a 
large  pasture,  partly  in  the  brook  and  partly  on 
the  shore,  and  while  he  was  doing  it,  Lucy  r* 
named,  and  kept  him  company. 


frARGET    PAINTING.  51 

CONVERSATION    V 
TARGET  PAINTING. 

On  rainy  days,  Lucy  sometimes  found  it  pretty 
difficult  to  know  what  to  do  for  amusement, — 
especially  when  Royal  was  in  his  little  room  at 
his  studies.  When  Royal  had  finished  his  studies, 
he  used  to  let  her  go  out  with  him  into  the  shed, 
or  into  the  ham,  and  see  what  he  was  doing.  She 
could  generally  tell  whether  he  had  gone  out  or 
not,  by  looking  into  the  back  entry  upon  his  nail, 
to  see  if  his  cap  was  there.  If  his  cap  was  there, 
she  supposed  that  he  had  not  gone  out. 

One  afternoon,  when  it  was  raining  pretty  fast, 
she  went  twice  to  look  at  Royal's  nail,  and  both 
times  found  the  cap  still  upon  it.  Lucy  thought 
it  must  be  after  the  time,  and  she  wondered  why 
lie  did  not  come  down.  She  concluded  to  take 
his  cap,  and  put  it  on.  and  make  believe  that  she 
was  a  traveller. 

She  put  the  cap  upon  her  head,  and  then  got  a 
pair  of  her  father's  gloves,  and  put  on.  She  also 
found  an  umbrella  in  the  corner,  and  took  that  ir 
her  hand.     When  she  found  herself  rigged,  she 


5%  lucy's  conversations. 

thought  she  would  go  and  call  at  Miss  Anne's 
door.  She  accordingly  walked  along,  using  her 
umbrella  for  a  cane,  holding  it  with  both  hands. 

When  she  got  to  Miss  Anne's  door,  she  knocked, 
as  well  as  she  could,  with  the  crook  upon  the 
handle  of  the  umbrella.  Miss  Anne  had  heard 
the  thumping  noise  of  the  umbrella,  as  Lucy 
came  along,  and  knew  who  it  was ;  so  she  said, 
"  Come  in." 

Lucy  opened  the  door  and  went  in  ;  the  cap 
settled  down  over  her  eyes,  so  that  she  had  to  hold 
her  head  back  very  far  to  see,  and  the  long  ringers 
of  her  father's  gloves  were  sticking  out  in  all  di- 
rections. 

"  How  do  you,  sir  ? "  said  she  to  Miss  Anne, 
nodding  a  little,  as  well  as  she  could,  —  "  how  do 
you,  sir  ?  " 

"  Pretty  well,  I  thank  you,  sir ;  walk  in,  sir ;  I 
am  happy  to  see  you,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"It  is  a  pretty  late  evening,  sir,  I  thank  yor 
sir,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  think  it  is,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  l? 
there  any  news  to-night,  sir  ? " 

"  No,  sir,  —  not  but  a  few,  sir,"  said  Lucy. 

Lucy  looked  pretty  sober  while  this  dialogue 
lasted;  but  Miss  Anne  could  not  refrain  from 
laughing  aloud  at  Lucy's  appearance  and  expres 


TARGET    PAINTING.  53 

sions,  and  Lucy  turned  round,  and  appealed  to  be 
going  away. 

"  Can't  you  stop  longer,  sir  ?  "  said  Miss  Anna 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Lucy.  "  1  only  wanted  to  ask 
you  which  is  the  way  to  London." 

Just  at  this  moment,  Lucy  heard  Royal's  voice 
in  the  back  entry,  asking  Joanna  if  she  knew 
what  had  become  of  his  cap ;  and  immediately 
she  started  to  run  back  and  give  it  to  him.  Find- 
ing, however,  that  she  could  not  get  along  fast 
enough  with  the  umbrella,  she  dropped  it  upon  the 
floor,  and  ran  along  without  it,  calling  out, 

"  Royal !  Royal !  here  ;  come  here,  and  look 
at  me." 

"  Now  I  should  like  to  know,  Miss  Lucy," 
said  Royal,  as  soon  as  she  came  m  sight,  "  who 
authorized  you  to  take  off  my  cap." 

"  I'm  a  traveller,"  said  Lucy. 

"  A  traveller  !  "  repeated  Royal ;  "  you  Iook 
like  a  traveller." 

He  pulled  his  cap  off  from  Lucy's  head,  and 
put  it  upon  his  own  ;  and  then  held  up  a  paper 
which  he  had  in  his  hands,  to  her  view 

There  was  a  frightful-looking  figure  of  a  man 
upon  it,  pretty  large,  with  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth, 
painted  brown,  and  a  bundle  of  sticks  upon  his 
oack. 


51  lucy's  conversations. 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  an  Indian,"  said  Royal.  "  I  pamteu  him 
myself." 

"  O,  what  an  Indian  !  "  said  Lucy.  "  I  wish 
you  would  give  him  to  me." 

l<  O  no,"  said  Royal ;  "  it  is  for  my  target," 

<f  Target  ?  "  said  Lucy.     "  What  is  a  target  ? " 

'4  A  target  ?  Why,  a  target  is  a  mark  to  shoot 
at,  with  my  bow  and  arrow.  They  almost  al- 
ways have  Indians  for  targets." 

Lucy  told  him  that  she  did  not  believe  his 
target  would  stand  up  long  enough  to  be  shot  at ; 
but  Royal  said,  in  reply,  that  he  was  going  to 
paste  him  upon  a  shingle,  and  then  he  could  prop 
the  shingle  up  so  that  he  could  shoot  at  it.  And 
he  asked  Lucy  if  she  would  go  and  borrow  Miss 
Anne's  gum  arabic  bottle,  while  he  went  and  got 
the  shingle. 

The  shingle  which  Royal  meant  was  a  thin, 
flat  piece  of  wood,  such  as  is  used  to  put  upon 
the  roofs  of  houses. 

The  gum  arabic  bottle  was  a  small,  square 
oottle,  containing  some  dissolved  gum  arabic,  and 
a  brush,  —  which  was  always  ready  for  pasting. 

Before  Lucy  got  the  paste,  Royal  came  back 
with  his  shingle,  and  he  came  into  Miss  Anne's 
'•oom,  to  see  what  had  become  of  Lucy  ;   and 


TARGET    PAINTING.  5,5 

Miss  Anne  then  said  he  might  paste  it  there  if  he 
pleased.  So  she  spread  a  great  newspaper  upon 
the  table,  and  put  the  little  bottle  and  the  Indian 
upon  it ;  and  Royal  and  Lucy  brought  two  chairs, 
and  sat  down  to  the  work.  They  found  that  the 
table  was  rather  too  high  for  them ;  and  so  they 
took  the  things  off  again,  and  spread  the  paper 
upon  the  carpet,  and  sat  down  around  it.  Lucy 
could  see  now  a  great  deal  better  than  before. 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  very  much  wish 
that  you  would  give  me  your  gum  arabic  bottle, 
and  then  I  could  make  little  books,  and  paste 
pictures  in  them,  whenever  I  pleased." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  and  that  would 
make  me  ever  so  much  trouble." 

"  No,  Miss  Anne,  I  don't  think  it  would  make 
you  much  trouble." 

"  Why,  when  I  wanted  a  little  gum  arabic,  to 
paste  something,  how  would  I  get  any  ?  " 

"  O,  then  I  would  lend  you  mine,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  if  you  could  find  it." 

"O,  Miss  Anne,  I  could  find  it  very  easily ;  I 
am  going  to  keep  it  in  my  treasury." 

"  Perhaps  you  might  put  it  in  once  or  twice, 
but  after  that  you  would  leave  it  about  any  where. 
One  day  I  should  find  it  upon  a  chair,  and  the 
next  day  upon  a  table,  and  the  next  on  the  floor 


56 


LUCYS    CONVERSATIONS. 


—  that  is  the  way  you  leave  your  things  about 
the  house." 

"I  used  to,  when  I  was  a  little  girl,"  said 
Lucy,  "  but  I  don't  now." 

"  How  long  is  it  since  you  were  a  little  girl  ?  " 
asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  O,  it  was  before  you  came  here.  I  am  older 
now  than  I  was  when  you  came  here  ;  I  have 
had  a  birthday  since  then." 

"  Don't  you  grow  old  any,  except  when  you 
have  a  birthday  ?  "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

Lucy  did  not  answer  this  question  at  first,  as 
she  did  not  know  exactly  how  it  was ;  and  while 
she  was  thinking  of  it,  Miss  Anne  said, 

"  It  can't  be  very  long,  Lucy,  since  you  learned 
to  put  things  in  their  places,  for  it  is  not  more 
than  ten  minutes  since  I  heard  you  throw  down 
an  umbrella  upon  the  entiy  floor,  and  leave  ii 
there." 

"  The  umbrella  ?  —  O,  that  was  because  1 
heard  Royal  calling  for  his  cap ;  and  so  I  could 
not  wait,  you  know  ;  I  had  to  leave  it  there." 

"  But  you  have  passed  by  it  once  since,  and  I 
presume  you  did  not  think  of  such  a  thing  aa 
taking  it  up." 

Lucy  had  no  reply  to  make  to  this  statement, 
and  she  remained  silent. 


TARGET    PAINTING.  5? 

"  I  have  got  a  great  many  little  things,5  :on- 
tinued  Miss  Anne,  "  which  I  don't  want  mj  self, 
and  which  I  should  be  very  glad  to  give  away  to 
some  little  girl,  for  playthings,  if  I  only  knew  of 
some  one  who  would  take  care  of  them.  I  don't 
want  to  have  them  scattered  about  the  house,  and 
lost,  and  destroyed." 

"  O,  I  will  take  care  of  them,  Miss  Anne," 
said  Luc}',  veiy  eagerly,  "  if  you  will  only  give 
them  to  me.  I  certainly  will.  I  will  put  them  in 
my  treasur}T,  and  keep  them  very  safe." 

"  If  I  were  a  little  girl,  no  bigger  than  you,"  said 
Miss  Anne,  "  I  should  have  a  great  cabinet  of  play- 
things and  curiosities,  twice  as  big  as  your  treas- 
ury." 

"  How  should  you  get  them?"  asked  Lucy. 

"O,  I  know  of  a  way;  —  but  it  is  a  se- 
cret." 

"Tell  me,  do,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy. — 
"You  would  buy  them,  I  suppose,  with  your 
money." 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  is  not  the  way 
I  meant." 

"What  way  did  you  mean  then?"  said 
Lucy.     "  I  wish  you  would  tell  me." 

"  Why,  I  should  take  sir,h  excellent  care  of 
ever}TthingIhad,  that  my  mother  would  give  me 


58  lucy's  conversations. 

a  great  many  of  her  little  curiosities,  and  othei 
things,  to  keep." 

"  Would  she,  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  1  do  not  doubt  it. 
Every  lady  has  a  great  many  beautiful  things,  put 
away,  which  she  does  not  want  to  use  herself,  but 
she  only  wants  to  have  them  kept  safely.  Now. 
I  should  take  such  good  care  of  all  such  things, 
that  my  mother  would  be  very  glad  to  have  me 
keep  them." 

"  Did  you  do  so,  when  you  were  a  little  girl  ? '' 
said  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  I  was  just  as  careless 
and  foolish  as  you  are.  When  I  was  playing 
with  anything,  and  was  suddenly  called  away,  I 
would  throw  it  right  down,  wherever  I  happened 
to  be,  and  leave  it  there.  Once  I  had  a  little 
glass  dog,  and  I  left  it  on  the  floor,  where  I  had 
been  playing  with  it,  and  somebody  came  along 
and  stepped  upon  it,  and  broke  it  to  pieces." 

"  And  would  not  your  mother  give  you  things 
then  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,  nothing  which  was  of  much  value.  — 
And  once  my  uncle  sent  me  a  beautiful  little  doll ; 
Out  my  mother  would  not  let  me  keep  it.  She 
kept  it  herself,  locked  up  in  a  drawer,  only  some- 
times she  would  let  me  have  it  to  play  with." 


TARGET    PAINTING.  59 

""Why  would  not  she  let  you  keep  it?"  said 
Lucy. 

"  O,  if  she  had,  I  should  soon  have  made  it 
look  like  old  Margaret." 

Here  Royal  said  he  had  got  his  Indian  pasted  ; 
and  he  put  away  the  gum  arabic  bottle,  and  the 
sheet  of  paper,  and  then  he  and  Lucy  went 
away. 


60  lucy's  jonveesations. 


CONVERSATION  VI. 

MIDNIGHT. 

One  night,  while  Miss  Anne  was  undressing 
Lucy,  to  put  her  to  bed,  she  thought  that  her  voice 
had  a  peculiar  sound,  somewhat  different  from 
usual.  It  was  not  hoarseness,  exactly,  and  yet  it 
was  such  a  sort  of  sound  as  made  Miss  Anne 
think  that  Lucy  had  taken  cold.  She  asked  her 
if  she  had  not  taken  cold,  but  Lucy  said  no. 

Lucy  slept  in  Miss  Anne's  room,  in  a  little 
trundle-bed.  Late  in  the  evening,  just  before 
Miss  Anne  herself  went  to  bed,  she  looked  at 
Lucy,  to  see  if  she  was  sleeping  quietly  ;  and  she 
found  that  she  was. 

But  in  the  night  Miss  Anne  was  awaked  by 
hearing  Luc}'  coughing  with  a  peculiar  hoarse  and 
hollow  sound,  and  breathing  very  hard.  She  got 
up,  and  went  to  her  trundle-bed. 

"  Lucy,"  said  she,  "  what's  the  matter?" 

4<  Nothing,"  said  Lucy,  "  only  I  can't  breathe 
very  well." 

Here  Lucy  began  to  cough  again  ;    and   the 


MIDNIGHT.  61 

rough  sounded  so  hoarse  and  hollow,  that  Miss 
Anne  began  to  be  quite  afraid  that  Lucy  was 
really  sick.  She  put  on  a  loose  robe,  and  carried 
her  lamp  out  into  the  kitchen,  and  lighted  it,  -— 
and  then  came  back  into  her  room  again.  She 
found  that  Lucy  was  no  better,  and  so  she  went 
to  call  her  mother 

She  went  with  the  lamp,  and  knocked  at  hei 
door ;  and  when  she  answered,  Miss  Anne  told  her 
that  Lucy  did  not  seem  to  be  very  well,  —  that  sha 
had  a  hoarse  cough,  and  that  she  breathed  hard. 

"  O,  I'm  afraid  it  is  the  croup,"  she  ex- 
claimed ;   "  let  us  get  up  immediately." 

We  will  get  right  up,  and  come  and  see  her," 
said  Lucy's  father. 

So  Miss  Anne  put  the  lamp  down  at  their 
door,  and  went  out  into  the  kitchen  to  light  an- 
other lamp  for  herself.  She  also  opened  the  coals, 
and  put  a  little  wood  upon  the  fire,  and  hung  the  tea 
kettle  upon  the  crane,  and  filled  it  up  with  water ; 
for  Miss  Anne  had  observed  that,  in  cases  of  sud- 
den sickness,  hot  water  was  one  of  the  things  most 
sure  to  be  wanted. 

After  a  short  time,  Lucy's  father  and  mothei 
came  in.  After  they  had  been  with  her  a  few 
tninutes,  her  mother  said, 

"  Don't  you  think  it  is  the  croup  ? " 
6 


62 


a  No,  I  hope  not,"  said  her  father ;  u  1  pre- 
sume it  is  only  quinsy ;  but  I  am  not  sure,  and 
perhaps  I  had  better  go  for  a  doctor." 

After  some  further  consultation,  they  conclu- 
ded that  it  was  best  to  call  a  physician.  Lucy's 
mother  recommended  that  they  should  call  up  the 
hired  man,  and  send  him ;  but  her  father  thought 
that  it  would  take  some  time  for  him  to  get  up  and 
get  ready,  and  that  he  had  better  go  himself. 

When  he  had  gone,  they  brought  in  some  hot 
water,  and  bathed  Lucy's  feet.  She  liked  this 
very  much ;  but  her  breathing  seemed  to  grow 
rather  worse  than  better. 

"  What  is  the  croup  1 "  said  Lu(  y  to  her 
mother,  while   her   feet   were  in    the   water. 

"  It  is  a  kind  of  sickness  that  children  have 
sometimes  suddenly  in  the  night ;  but  I  hope  yoi' 
are  not  going  to  have  it." 

"  No,  mother,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  I  think  'tit  is  only 
the  quinsy." 

Lucy  did  not  know  at  all  what  the  quir  >y  was  ; 
but  her  sickness  did  not  seem  to  her  tc  be  any 
thing  very  bad ;  and  so  she  agreed  with  her  fa- 
ther that  it  was  probably  only  the  quinsy. 

When  the  doctor  came,  he  felt  of  Luoy's 
pulse,  and  looked  at  her  tongue,  and  listp^-  to 
ber  breathing. 


MIDNIGHT.  63 

'  Will  she  take  ipecacuanha  ? "  said  the  doctor 
to  Lucy's  mother. 

<;  She  will  take  anything  you  prescribe,  doc- 
tor," said  her  father,  in  reply. 

"  Well,  that's  clever,"  said  the  doctor.  "  The 
old  rule  is,  that  the  child  that  will  take  medicine  is 
half  cured  already." 

So  the  doctor  sat  down  at  me  table,  and  opened 
his  saddle-bags,  and  took  out  a  bottle  filled  with  a 
yellowish  powder,  and  began  to  take  some  out. 

"  Is  it  good  medicine  ?  "  said  Lucy,  in  a  low 
voice,  to  her  mother.  She  was  now  sitting  in  her 
mother's  lap,  who  was  rocking  her  in  a  rocking- 
chair. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  doctor ;  for  he  overheard 
Lucy's  question,  and  thought  that  he  would  an- 
swer it  himself.  "  Yes,  ipecacuanha  is  a  very 
good  medicine,  —  an  excellent  medicine." 

As  he  said  this,  he  looked  around,  rather  slyly, 
at  Miss  Anne  and  Lucy's  father. 

"  Then  1  shall  like  to  take  it,"  said  Lucy. 

"  He  means,"  said  her  mother,  "  that  it  is  a  gooa 
medicine  to  cure  the  sickness  with ;  the  taste  of  it 
is  not  good.  It  is  a  very  disagreeable  medicine  to 
take.'1 

Lucy  said  nothing  in  reply  to  this,  but  she 
thought   to  herself,  that  she  wished  the   doctor? 


64  lucy's   conversations. 

could  find  out  some  medicin  3s  that  did  not  taste 
so  bad. 

Miss  Anne  received  the  medicine  from  the  doc- 
tor, and  prepared  it  in  a  spoon,  with  some  water 
for  Lucy  to  take.  Just  before  it  was  ready,  tho 
door  opened,  and  Royal  came  in. 

"Why,  Royal,"  sa:d  his  mother,  "how  came 
you  to  get  up  ?  " 

"  I  heard  a  noise,  and  \  thought  it  was  morn 
ing,"  said  Royal. 

"Morning?  no,"  replied  his  mother;  "it  is 
midnight." 

"  Midnight  ?  "  said  Lucy.  She  was  quite  as- 
tonished. She  did  not  recollect  that  she  had  ever 
been  up  at  midnight  before,  in  her  life. 

"  Is  Lucy  sick  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"  No,  not  very  sick,"  said  Lucy. 

Royal  came  and  stood  by   the  rocking-chair 
and  looked  into  Lucy's  face. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  are  sick,"  said  he.  "  Is 
there  anything  that  I  can  do  for  you  ? " 

Lucy  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  her  eye 
suddenly  brightened  up,  and  she  said, 

"Yes,  Royal,  —  if  you  would  only  just  be  so 
good  as  to  take  my  medicine  for  me." 

Royal  laughed,  and  said,  "  O  Lucy !  I  guess 
you  are  not  very  sirk." 


MIDNIGHT.  65 

In  fact,  Lucy  was  breathing  pretty  freely  then, 
and  there  was  nothing  to  indicate,  particularly, 
that  she  was  sick ;  unless  when  a  paroxysm  of 
coughing  came  on.  Miss  Anne  brought  her 
medicine  to  her  in  a  great  spoon,  and  Royal  said 
that  he  presumed  that  the  doctor  would  not  let 
him  take  the  medicine,  but  that,  if  she  would  take 
it,  he  would  make  all  the  faces  for  her. 

Accordingly,  while  she  was  swallowing  the 
medicine,  she  turned  her  eyes  up  towards  Royal, 
who  had  stood  back  a  little  way,  and  she  began 
to  laugh  a  little  at  the  strange  grimaces  which  he 
was  making.  The  laugh  was,  however,  inter- 
rupted and  spoiled  by  a  universal  shudder  which 
came  over  her,  produced  by  the  taste  of  the  ipe- 
cacuanha. 

Immediately   afterwards,  Lucy's  mother   said, 

"  Come,  Royal ;  now  I  want  you  to  go  right 
back  to  bed  again." 

"  Well,  mother,  —  only  won't  you  just  let  me 
stop  a  minute,  to  look  out  the  door,  and  see  how 
midnight  looks  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  she,  "  only  run  along." 

So  Royal  went  away ;  and  pretty  soon  the  doc- 
tor went  away  too  He  said  that  Lucy  would  be 
pretty  sick  for  about  an  hour,  and  that  after  that 
tie  hoped  that  she  would  be  better ;  and  he  left  a 


66  lucy's  conversations. 

dmall  white  powder  in  a  little  paper,  which  he  said 
she  might  take  after  that  time,  and  it  would  make 
her  sleep  well  the  rest  of  the  night. 

It  was  as  the  doctor  had  predicted.  Lucy  was 
quite  sick  for  an  hour,  and  her  father  and  mother, 
and  Miss  Anne,  all  remained,  and  took  care  of 
her.  After  that,  she  hegan  to  be  better.  She 
breathed  much  more  easily,  and  when  she  coughed 
she  did  not  seem  to  be  so  very  hoarse.  Her  moth 
er  was  then  going  to  carry  her  into  her  room  ; 
but  Miss  Anne  begged  them  to  let  her  stay  where 
she  was ;  for  she  said  she  wanted  to  take  care  of 
her  herself. 

"  The  doctor  said  he  thought  she  would  sleep 
quietly,"  said  Miss  Anne  ;  "  and  if  she  should  not 
be  so  well,  I  will  come  and  call  you." 

"  Very  well,"  said  her  mother,  "  we  will  do  so 
But  first  you  may  give  her  the  powder." 

So  Miss  Anne  took  the  white  powder,  and  put 
it  into  some  jelly,  in  a  spoon ;  and  when  she  had 
covered  the  powder  up  carefully  with  the  jelly, 
she  brought  it  to  Lucy. 

"  Now  I've  got  some  good  medicine  for  you." 
said  Miss  Anne. 

"  I  am  glad  it  is  good,"  said  Lucy. 

"  That  is,"  continued  Miss  Anne,  "  the  jelly  is 
good,  and  you  will  not  taste  the  powder." 


MIDNIGHT.  67 

Lucy  took  the  jelly,  and,  after  it,  a  little  water ; 
and  then  her  mother  put  her  into  her  trundle-bed. 
Her  father  and  mother  then  bade  her  good  night, 
and  went  away  to  their  own  room. 

Miss  Anne  then  set  the  chairs  back  in  their 
places,  and  carried  out  all  the  things  which  had 
been  used  ;  and  after  she  had  got  the  room  ar- 
ranged and  in  order,  she  came  to  Lucy's  bedside, 
to  see  if  she  was  asleep.     She  was  not  asleep. 

"  Lucy,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  how  do  you  feel 
now?" 

"  O,  pretty  well,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  at  least,  I  am 
better." 

"  Do  you  feel  sleepy  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Is  there  any  thing  you  want  ?  "  asked  Mjss 
Anne. 

"  Why,  no,  — only,  —  1  should  like  it,  —  only 
I  don't  suppose  you  could  very  well,  —  but  I 
should  like  it  if  you  could  hold  me  a  little  while, 
—  and  rock  me." 

aO  yes,  I  can,"  said  Mis?  \nne,  "just  as  we 
as  not." 

So  Miss  Anne  took  Lucy  up  from  her  bed,  and 
wrapped  a  blanket  about  her,  and  sat  down  in 
her  rocking-chair,  to  rock  her.  She  rocked  her 
a    few    minutes,    and    sang    to    her,   until    shp 


68  LUCYS    CONVERSATIONS. 

thought  she  was  asleep.  Then  she  stopped  .sing 
ing,  and  she  rocked  slower  and  slower,  until  shr 
gradually  ceased. 

A  moment  afterwards,  Lucy  said,  in  a  mild  and 
gentle  voice, 

"  Miss  Anne,  is  it  midnight  now  ?  " 

"  It  is  about  midnight,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Do  you  think  you  could  just  carry  me  to  the 
window,  and  let  me  look  out,  and  see  how  the 
midnight  looks  ?  —  or  am  I  too  heavy  ? " 

"  No,  you  are  not  very  heavy ;  but,  then, 
there  is  nothing  to  see.  Midnight  looks  just  like 
any  other  part  of  the  night." 

"  Royal  wanted  to  see  it,"  said  Lucy,  "  an  I 
should  like  to,  too,  if  you  would  be  willing  to 
carry  me." 

When  a  child  is  so  patient  and  gentle,  it  is 
very  difficult  indeed  to  refuse  them  any  request 
that  they  make  ;  and  Miss  Anne  immediately 
began  to  draw  up  the  blanket  over  Lucy's  feet, 
preparing  to  go.  She  did  not  wish  to  have  her 
put  her  feet  to  the  floor,  for  fear  that  she  might 
take  more  cold.  So  she  carried  her  along  to  the 
window,  although  she  was  pretty  heavy  for  Mis? 
Anne  to  carry.     Miss  Anne  was  not  very  strong 

Lucy  separated  the  two  curtains  with  her 
hands,  and   Miss   Anne   carried    her  m  between 


MIDNIGHT.  71 

them.  There  was  a  narrow  window-seat,  and 
she  rested  Lucy  partly  upon  it,  so  that  she  was 
less  heavy  to  hold. 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  is'nt  it  any 
darker  than  this  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  there  is  a  moon 
to-night." 

"  Where  ? "  said  Lucy.  "  I  don't  see  die 
moon." 

"  We  can't  see  it  here ;  we  can  only  see  the 
light  of  it,  shining  on  the  buildings." 

"  It  is  pretty  dark  in  the  yard,"  said  Lucy. 

u  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  the  yard  is  in 
shadow." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that,  Miss  Anne  ?  " 
asked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  the  moon  does  not  shine  into  the  yard ; 
the  house  casts  a  shadow  all  over  it." 

"  Then  I  should  think,"  said  Lucy,  "  that  you 
ought  to  say  that  the  shadow  is  in  the  yard,  — 
not  the  yard  is  in  the  shadow." 

Miss  Anne  laughed,  and  said, 

"  I  did  not  say  that  the  yard  was  in  the  shadow, 
but  in  shadow." 

"  And  is  not  that  just  the  same  thing  ?  "  saio 
Lucy 


72  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

"  Not  exactly ;  but  look  at  the  stars  ovei 
there,  beyond  the  field." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  there's  one  pretty  bright 
one ;  but  there  are  not  a  great  many  out.  I 
thought  there  would  be  more  at  midnight." 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  there  are  nc  more 
stars  at  midnight  than  at  any  other  time ;  and 
to-night  there  are  fewer  than  usual,  because  the 
moon  shines." 

"  I  don't  see  why  there  should  not  be  just  as 
many  stars,  if  the  moon  does  shine." 

"  There  are  just  as  many  ;  only  we  can't  see 
them  so  well." 

"  Why  can't  we  see  them  ? "  said  Lucy. 

But  Miss  Anne  told  Lucy  that  she  was  rather 
tired  of  holding  her  at  the  window,  and  so  she 
would  carry  her  back,  and  tell  her  about  it  while 
she  was  rocking  her  to  sleep. 

"  You  see,"  said  Miss  Anne,  after  she  had  sat 
down  again,  "  that  there  are  just  as  many  stars  in 
the  sky  in  the  daytime,  as  there  are  in  the  night." 

"  O  Miss  Anne !  "  exclaimed  Lucy,  raising  up 
her  head  suddenly,  as  if  surprised  ;  "  1  have  looked 
up  in  the  sky  a  great  many  times,  and  I  never 
saw  any." 

"  No,  we  cannot  see  them  because  the  sun 
shines  so  bright." 


MIDNIGHT.  73 

"  Did  you  ever  see  any,  Miss  Anne  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  she. 

"  Did  any  body  ever  see  any  ? " 

"No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "I  don't  know  thai 
any  body  ever  did." 

"  Then,"  said  Lucy,  "  how  do  they  know  thai 
there  are  any  ?  " 

"  Well  —  that  is  rather  a  hard  question,"  said 
Miss  Anne.  "  But  they  do  know  ;  they  have 
found  out  in  some  way  or  other,  though  I  don't 
know  exactly  how." 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  can  know  that  there  are 
any  stars  there,"  said  Lucy,  "  unless  somebody 
has  seen  them.  I  guess  they  only  think  there 
are  some,  Miss  Anne,  —  they  only  think" 

" 1  believe  I  don't  know  enough  about  it  my- 
self," said  Miss  Anne,  "  to  explain  it  to  you,  — 
and  besides,  you  ought  to  go  to  sleep  now.  So 
shut  up  your  eyes,  and  I  will  sing  to  you,  and 
then,  perhaps,  you  will  go  to  sleep." 

Lucy  obeyed,  and  shut  up  her  eyes  ;  and  Miss 
Anne  began  to  sing  her  a  song.  After  a  little 
while,  Lucy  opened  her  eyes,  and  said, 

"  I  rather  think,  Miss  Anne,  I  should  like  to 
get  into  my  trundle-bed  now.  I  am  rather  tired 
of  sitting  in  your  lap." 

"  Very  v\rel/  "  said  Miss  Anne  ;  "  I  think  it  v  ill 
7 


74 


be  better.  But  would  not  you  rather  luve  rne 
bring  the  cradle  in  ?  and  then  you  can  lie  down, 
and  I  can  rock  you  all  the  time." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  the  cradle  has  got  so  short, 
that  I  can't  put  my  feet  out  straight.  I  had 
rather  get  into  my  trundle-bed." 

So  Miss  Anne  put  Lucy  into  the  trundle-bed, 
and  she  herself  took  a  book,  and  sat  at  her  table, 
reading.     In  a  short  time,  Lucy  went  to  sleep 
and  she  slept  soundly  until  morning. 


JOANNA.  75 


CONVERSATION    VII. 
JOANNA. 

The  next  morning,  when  Lucy  waked  up,  sne 
found  that  it  was  very  light.  The  curtains  of 
the  room  were  up,  and  she  could  see  the  sun 
shining  brightly  upon  the  trees  and  buildings  out 
of.  doors,  so  that  she  supposed  that  it  was  pretty 
late.  Besides,  she  saw  that  Miss  Anne  was  not 
in  the  room ;  and  she  supposed  that  she  had  got 
up  and  gone  out  to  breakfast. 

Lucy  thought  that  she  would  get  up  too.  Bui 
then  she  recollected  that  she  had  been  sick  the 
night  before,  and  that,  perhaps,  her  mother  would 
not  be  willing  to  have  her  get  up. 

Her  next  idea  was,  that  she  would  call  out  for 
Miss  Anne,  or  for  her  mother ;  but  this,  on  re- 
flection, she  thought  would  make  a  great  disturb- 
ance ;  for  it  was  some  distance  from  the  room 
which  she  was  in  to  the  parlor,  where  she  sup- 
posed they  were  taking  breakfast. 

She  concluded,  on  the  whole,  to  wait  patiently 
until  somebody  should  come ;  and  having  nothing 


76 


else  to  do,  she  began  to  sing  a  little  song,  winch 
Miss  Anne  had  taught  her.  She  knew  only  one 
verse,  but  she  sang  this  verse  two  or  three  tunes 
over,  louder  and  louder  each  time,  and  her  voice, 
resounded  merrily  through  all  that  part  of  the 
house. 

Some  children  cry  when  they  wake  up  and 
find  themselves  alone ;  some  call  out  aloud  foi 
somebody  to  come;  and  others  sing.  Thus 
there  are  three  ways  ;  and  the  singing  is  the  best 
of  all  the  three ;  —  except,  indeed,  for  very  little 
children,  who  are  not  old  enough  to  sing  or  to  call, 
and  who,  therefore,  cannot  do  anything  but  cry. 

They  heard  Lucy's  singing  in  the  parlor,  and 
Miss  Anne  came  immediately  to  see  her.  She 
gave  her  a  picture-book  to  amuse  herself  with  for 
a  time,  and  went  away  again ;  but  in  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  she  came  back,  and  helped  her 
to  get  up  and  dress  herself. 

Her  mother  told  her  that  she  must  not  go  out 
of  doors  that  day,  but  that  she  might  play  about 
in  any  of  the  rooms,  just  as  she  pleased. 

"  But  what  shall  I  do  for  my  breakfast  ? "  said 
Lucy. 

"  O,  I  will  give  you  some  breakfast,"  said  Miss 
Anne.  "  How  should  you  like  to  have  it  by 
yourself,  upon  your  little  table,  in  the  kitchen  } ' 


JOANNA.  77 

4<  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  if  you  will  let  me  have 
my  own  cups  and  saucers." 

';  Your  cups  won't  hold  enough  for  you  to 
link,  —  will  they  ?  " 

"  O,  I  can  fill  them  up  two  or  three  times." 

Miss  Anne  said  she  had  no  objection  to  this 
plan ;  and  she  told  Lucy  to  go  and  get  her  table 
ready.  So  Lucy  went  and  got  her  little  table 
It  was  just  high  enough  for  her  to  sit  at.  Hei 
father  had  made  it  for  her,  by  taking  a  small  table 
m  the  house,  which  had  been  intended  for  a  sort 
of  a  light-stand,  and  sawing  off  the  legs,  so  as  to 
make  it  just  high  enough  for  her. 

Lucy  brought  this  little  table,  and  also  her 
chair ;  and  then  Miss  Anne  handed  her  a  napkin 
lor  a  table-cloth,  and  told  her  that  she  might  set 
her  table,  —  and  that,  when  it  was  all  set,  she 
would  bring  her  something  for  breakfast ;  and  so 
sne  left  Lucy,  for  a  time,  to  herself. 

Lucy  spread  the  napkin  upon  her  table,  and 
(hen  went  and  got  some  of  her  cups  and  sau- 
cers, and  put  upon  it.  Joanna  was  ironing  at 
the  great  kitchen  table,  and  Lucy  went  to  ask 
her  how  many  cups  and  saucers  she  had  bet- 
ter set. 

"  I  should  think  it  would  take  the  whole  set," 
said  Joanna,  "  to  hold  one  good  cup  of  tea." 
7* 


78 


"  But  I  am  going  to  fill  up  my  cup  three  times, 
Joanna ;  and  if  that  isn't  enough,  I  shall  fill  it 
up  four  times." 

"  O,  then,"  said  Joanna,  "  I  would  not  have 
but  one  cup,  —  or  at  most  two.  I  think  I  would 
have  two,  because  you  may  possibly  have  some 
company." 

"  I  wish  you  would  come  and  be  my  company, 
Joanna." 

"  No,  I  must  attend  to  my  ironing." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  as  she  went  back  to  her 
table,  "  I  will  have  two  cups,  at  any  rate,  for  1 
may  have  some  company." 

She  accordingly  put  on  two  cups  and  a  tea-pot ; 
also  a  sugar-bowl  and  creamer.  She  placed 
them  in  various  ways  upon  the  table ;  first  trying 
one  plan  of  arrangement,  and  then  another ;  and 
when  at  last  they  were  placed  in  the  best  way, 
she  went  and  called  Miss  Anne,  to  tell  her  that 
she  was  ready  for  her  breakfast. 

Miss  Anne  came  out,  according  to  her  promise, 
to  give  her  what  she  was  to  have  to  eat.  First, 
she  put  a  little  sugar  in  her  sugar-bowl ;  then 
some  milk  in  her  cream-pitcher ;  tnen  some  we  x-r, 
pretty  hot,  in  her  tea-pot. 

"  Could  not  you  let  me  have  a  little  real  tea  ? ' 
said  Lucy 


JOANNA.  79 

"O,  this  will  taste  just  as  well,"  said  Miss 
Anne. 

"  I  know  it  will  taste  just  as  well ;  but  it  will 
not  look  just  right.  Real  tea  is  not  white,  like 
water." 

"  Water  is  not.  white,"  said  Miss  Anne : 
"  milk  is  white ;  water  is  very  different  in  appear- 
ance from  milk." 

"  What  color  is  water,  then  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  not  of  any  color,"  said  Miss  Anne 
"  It  is  what  we  call  colorless.  Now,  you  want 
to  have  something  in  your  tea-pot  which  is  col- 
ored a  little,  like  tea,  —  not  perfectly  colorless, 
like  water." 

Lucy  said  yes,  that  that  was  exactly  what  she 
wanted.  So  Miss  Anne  took  her  tea-pot  up,  and 
went  into  the  closet  with  it,  and  presently  came 
out  with  it  again,  and  put  it  upon  the  table.  The 
reason  why  she  took  all  this  pains  to  please  Lucy 
was,  because  she  was  so  gentle  and  pleasant ;  and, 
although  she  often  asked  for  things,  she  was  not 
vexed  or  ill-humored  when  they  could  not  be 
given  to  her. 

Miss  Anne  then  cut  some  thin  slices  of  bread, 
and  divided  them  into  square  pieces,  so  small 
that  they  could  go  on  a  small  w  plate,  which  she 
brought  from  the  closet.     She  also   gave  her  a 


tfO  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

toasLiig-fork  with  a  long  handle,  and  told  her  that 
she  might  toast  her  own  bread,  and  then  spread 
it  with  butter.  She  gave  her  a  little  butter  upon 
another  pJate. 

When  all  these  things  were  arranged,  Miss 
Anne  went  away,  telling  Lucy  that  she  had 
better  make  her  breakfast  last  as  long  as  she 
could,  for  she  must  remember  that  she  could  not 
go  out  at  all  that  day ;  and  that  she  must  there- 
fore economize  her  amusements 

M  Economize  ?  What  do  you  mean  by  that; 
Miss  Anne  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"Why,  use  them  carefully,  and  make  them 
last  as  long  as  you  can." 

Lucy  followed  Miss  Anne's  advice  in  making 
the  amusement  of  sitting  at  her  own  breakfast 
table  last  as  long  as  possible.  She  toasted  her 
little  slices  of  bread  with  the  toasting-fork,  and 
poured  out  the  tea  from  her  tea-pot.  She  found 
that  it  had  a  slight  tinge  of  the  color  of  tea,  which 
Miss  Anne  had  given  it  by  sweetening  it  a  little, 
with  brown  sugar.  Lucy  enjoyed  her  breakfast 
very  much. 

While  she  was  eating  it,  Joanna,  who  was 
much  pleased  with  her  for  being  so  still,  and  so 
careful  not  to  make  her  any  trouble,  asked  her  if 
she  should  not  like  a  roasted  apple. 


JOANNA.  SI 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  very  much  indeed." 

"  I  will  give  you  one,"  said  Joanna,  "  and 
show  you  how  to  roast  it,  if  you  will  go  and  ask 
your  mother,  if  she  thinks  it  will  not  hurt  you." 

Lucy  accordingly  went  and  asked  her  mother. 
She  said  it  would  not  hurt  her  at  all,  and  that  she 
should  be  very  glad  to  have  Joanna  get  her  an 
apple. 

Joanna  accordingly  brought  a  large,  rosy  apple, 
with  a  stout  stem.  She  tied  a  long  string  to  the 
stem,  and  then  held  die  apple  up  before  the  fire 
a  minute,  by  means  of  the  stem.  Then  she  got 
a  flat-iron,  and  tied  the  other  end  of  the  string  to 
the  flat-iron.  The  flat-iron  she  then  placed  upon 
the  mantle  shelf,  and  the  string  was  just  long 
enough  to  let  the  apple  hang  down  exactly  be- 
fore the  fire. 

When  it  was  all  arranged  in  this  way,  she  took 
up  the  apple,  and  twisted  the  string  for  some  time  ; 
and  then,  when  she  let  Jie  apple  down  again 
gently  to  its  place,  the  weight  of  it  began  to 
untwist  the  string,  and  this  made  the  apple  itself 
turn  round  quite  swiftly  before  the  fire. 

Joanna  also  put  a  plate  under  the  apple,  to 
catch  any  of  the  juice  or  pulp  which  might  fall 
down,  and  then  left  Lucy  to  watch  it  while  il 
was  roasting. 


S2  lucy's  conversations. 

Lucy  watched  its  revolutions  for  some  time  ii 
silence.  She  observed  that  the  apple  wouk' 
whirl  very  swiftly  for  a  time,  and  then  it  woulc 
go  slower,  and  slower,  and  slower,  until,  at  length 
she  said, 

"  Joanna,  Joanna,  it  is  going  to  stop." 

But,  instead  of  this,  it  happened  that,  just  a? 
the  very  instant  when  Lucy  thought  it  was  goin£ 
to  stop,  all  at  once  it  began  to  turn  the  othex 
way ;  and,  instead  of  going  slower  and  slower,  it 
went  faster  and  faster,  until,  at  length,  it  was  re- 
volving as  fast  as  it  did  before. 

"  O  no,"  said  she  to  Joanna  ;  "  it  has  got  a  go- 
ing again." 

It  was  indeed  revolving  very  swiftly ;  but 
pretty  soon  it  began  to  slacken  its  speed  again  ;  — 
and  again  Lucy  thought  that  it  was  certainly 
going  to  stop.  But  at  this  time  she  witnessed  the 
same  phenomenon  as  before.  It  had  nearly  lojt 
all  its  motion,  and  was  turning  around  very  slowl) 
.ndeed,  and  just  upon  the  point  of  stopping  ;  ai  o 
in  fact  it  did  seem  to  stop  for  an  instant ;  but  im 
mediately  it  began  to  move  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion, very  slowly  at  first,  but  afterwards  faster  and 
faster,  until  it  was,  at  length,  spinning  around 
before  the  hot  coals,  as  fast  as  ever  before. 
Pretty  soon,  also,  the  apple  began  to  sing ;  and 


JOANNA. 


s;$ 


Lucy  concluded  that  it  would  lever  slop,  —  at 
least  not  before  it  would  have  time  to  be  well 
roasted. 

"  It  goes  like  Royal's  top,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Has  Royal  got  a  top  ?  "  said  Joanna. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  a  large  humming  top. 
There  is  a  hole  in  it.  It  spins  very  fast,  only  it 
does  not  go  first  one  way  and  then  the  other,  like 
this  apple." 

"  J  never  saw  a  top,"  said  Joanna. 

"  Never  saw  one  !  "  exclaimed  Lucy.  "  Did 
not  the  boys  have  tops  when  you  were  little  ? " 

"  INo  boys  that  1  ever  knew,"  answered  Joanna. 

"  Did  you  have  a  tea-set  when  you  were  a 
little  girl  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Joanna,  "  I  never  saw  any  such  a 
tea-set,  until  I  saw  yours." 

"  What  kind  of  playthings  did  you  have,  then, 
when  you  were  a  little  girl  ?  " 

"  No  playthings  at  all,"  said  Joanna ;  "  I  was 
a  farmer's  daughter." 

"  And  don't  the  fanners'  daughters  ever  have 
any  playthings  ? " 

"  J  never  did,  at  any  rate." 

"  What  did  you  do,  then,  for  play  ?  " 

"  O,  I  had  plenty  of  play.  When  I  was  about 
as  big  as  you,  I  used  to  build  fires  in  the  stumps.' 


84  llcy's  conversations. 

"  Wliat  stumps  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

u  Why,  the  stumps  in  the  field,  pretty  near 
my  father's  house.  I  used  to  pick  up  chips 
and  sticks,  and  build  fires  in  the  hollow  places  in 
the  stumps,  and  call  them  my  ovens.  Then, 
when  they  were  all  heated,  I  used  to  put  a  potato 
in,  and  cover  it  up  with  sand,  and  let  it  roast." 

"  I  wish  I  had  some  stumps  to  build  fires  in," 
jaid  Lucy.  "  I  should  like  to  go  to  your  house 
and  see  them." 

"  O,  they  are  all  gone  now,"  said  Joanna. 
"  They  have  gradually  got  burnt  up,  and  rotted 
out ;  and  now  it  is  all  a  smooth,  green  field." 

"  O,  what  a  pity  !  "  said  Lucy.  "  And  an't 
there  any  more  stumps  anywhere  ? " 

"  Yes,  in  the  woods,  and  upon  the  new  fields. 
You  see,  when  they  cut  down  trees,  they  leave  the 
stumps  in  the  ground ;  and  pretty  soon  they  begin 
to  rot ;  and  they  rot  more  and  more,  until,  at  last, 
they  tumble  all  to  pieces ;  and  then  they  pile  up 
the  pieces  in  heaps,  and  bum  them.  Then  the 
ground  is  all  smooth  and  clear.  So  I  used  to 
bnild  fires  in  the  stumps  as  long  as  they  lasted. 
One  day  my  hen  laid  her  eggs  in  a  stump." 

"  Your  hen  ? "  said  Lucy ;  "  did  you  have  a 
hen?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Joanna ;  "  when  I  was  a  little 


JOANNA.  85 

older  than  you  are,  my  father  gave  nie  a  little  yel- 
low chicken,  that  was  peeping,  with  the  rest,  about 
the  yard.  I  used  to  feed  her,  every  day,  with 
crumbs.  After  a  time,  she  grew  up  to  be  a  large 
hen,  and  laid  eggs.  My  father  said  that  I  might 
have  all  the  eggs  too.  I  used  to  sell  them,  and 
save  the  money." 

"  How  much  money  did  you  get  ? "  asked 
Lucy. 

"  O,  considerable.  After  a  time,  you  see,  I  let 
my  hen  sit,  and  hatch  some  chickens." 

"  Sit  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes ;  you  see,  after  hens  have  laid  a  good 
many  eggs,  they  sit  upon  them,  to  keep  them 
warm,  for  two  or  three  weeks ;  and,  while  they 
keep  them  warm,  a  little  chicken  begins  to  grow 
in  every  egg,  and  at  length,  after  they  grow  strong 
enough,  they  break  through  the  eggs  and  come 
out.  So  I  got  eleven  chickens  from  my  hen, 
after  a  time." 

"  Eleven  ?  "  repeated  Lucy  ;  "  were  there  just 
eleven  ? " 

"There  were  twelve,  but  one  died,"  replied 
Joanna.  "  And  all  these  chickens  were  hatched 
in  a  stump." 

"  How  did  that  happen  ? "  asked  Lucy. 
8 


86  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Why,  the  hens  generally  used  to  lay  theii 
eggs  in  the  barn,  and  I  used  to  go  in,  eveiy  day,  to 
get  the  eggs.  I  carried  a  little  basket,  and  I  used 
to  climb  about  upon  the  hay,  and  feel  in  the  cribs 
and  I  generally  knew  where  all  the  nests  were. 
But  once  I  could  not  find  my  hen's  nest  for  several 
days  ;  and  at  last  T  thought  I  would  watch  her.  and 
see  where  she  went.  I  did  watch  her,  and  I  saw 
her  go  into  a  hollow  place  in  a  great  black  stump, 
in  the  corner  of  the  yard.  After  she  came  out,  I 
went  and  looked  there,  and  I  found  four  eggs  " 

"  What  did  you  do  then  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  I  concluded,  on  the  whole,  to  let  them 
s'.ay,  and  let  my  hen  hatch  her  eggs  there,  if  she 
would.  And  I  told  my  brother,  that,  if  he  would 
make  a  coop  for  me,  around  that  stump,  I  would 
give  him  one  of  the  chickens." 

"  A  coop  1     What  is  a  coop  ? " 

"  O,  a  small  house  for  hens  to  live  in.  My  broth- 
er made  me  a  coop.  He  made  it  immediately 
after  the  hen  had  hatched  her  chickens.  I  will 
tell  you  how  he  made  it.  He  drove  stakes  clown 
all  around  the  stump,  and  then  put  some  short 
boards  over  the  top,  so  as  to  cover  it  over.  My 
hen  staid  there  until  her  chickens  got  pretty  well 
grown,  and  then  we  let  her  run  about  the  yard." 


iOANNA. 


5V 


"That  is  pretty  much  the  way  that  Royal 
made  his  turtle-pen,"  said  Lucy ;  "  but  1  should 
rather  have  a  hen-coop,  because  of  the  chick- 


ens. 


"  Yes,  I  had  eleven.  I  gave  my  brother  one, 
and  then  I  had  ten.  These  all  grew  up,  and  laid 
more  eggs ;  and  at  last  I  got  money  enough  from 
my  eggs  and  poultry  to  buy  me  a  new  gown." 

"  I  wish  I  was  a  farmer's  daughter,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Farmers'  daughters  have  a  very  good  time," 
•and  Joanna,  "  I  think  myself." 


88 


CONVERSATION    VIII 
BUILDING. 

In  one  of  the  yards  belonging  to  the  house  that 
Lucy  lived  in,  was  a  border  for  flowers ;  and  in 
this  border  Royal  had  an  apple-tree,  which  had 
grown  up  from  a  seed  which  he  had  planted  him- 
self. It  was  now  nearly  as  high  as  his  head,  and 
Royal  said  that  he  meant  to  graft  it  the  very  next 
spring. 

At  the  end  of  this  border,  near  one  corner  of  the 
yard,  there  was  a  vacant  place,  where  some  flow- 
ers had  been  dug  up,  and  Lucy  had  it  to  plant 
beans  in.  She  used  often  to  dig  in  it,  and  plant, 
when  she  had  nothing  else  to  do.  Miss  Anne 
gave  her  sever.1  different  kinds  of  flower  seeds 
in  the  spring,  and  she  planted  them.  Generally, 
however,  she  had  not  patience  enough  to  wait  foi 
them  to  come  up  ;  but  dug  the  ground  all  ovei 
again,  with  her  little  hoe,  before  the  flowers,  which 
she  had  planted,  had  had  time  to  show  themselves 
above  the  ground. 

She  was  digging,  one  day,  in  this  garden,  and 


BUILDING.  89 

Royal  was  hoeing  up  the  weeds  around  his  apple- 
tree.  Royal  said  that  his  apple-tree  was  growing 
crooked,  and  that  he  was  going  to  get  a  stake, 
and  drive  it  down  hy  the  side  of  his  tree,  and  tie 
a  string  to  it,  and  so  straighten  the  tree  up. 

Lucy  came  to  see  Royal  stake  up  his  tree. 
He  made  the  stake  very  sharp,  and  when  he  got 
it  all  ready  to  drive,  he  said  that  he  must  go  and 
get  the  iron  bar  to  make  a  hole. 

"O,  you  can  drive  it  right  in,"  said  Lucy, 
"  without  making  any  hole." 

"  Not  far  enough,"  said  Royal.  "It  must  be 
driven  in  very  deep  and  strong,  or  else  the  string 
which  ties  the  apple-tree  to  it,  will  pull  it  over  to 
one  side." 

So  Royal  went  and  got  the  small  crowbar, 
and  came  back  dragging  it  along.  He  made  a 
deep  hole  by  the  side  of  the  apple-tree,  but  not 
very  near  it,  for  he  did  not  want  to  hurt  the  roots. 
Then  he  took  out  the  bar,  and  laid  it  down  upon 
the  grass,  and  inserted  the  point  of  the  stake  into 
the  hole  which  he  had  made. 

While  he  was  doing  this,  Lucy  took  hold  of 
one  end  of  the  iron  bar,  and  tried  to  lift  it. 

"  O,  what  a  heavy  bar !  "  said  she. 

"  I  don't  think  it  is  very  heavy,"  said  Royal 
8* 


90  lucy's  conevrsations. 

So  saying,  he  drove  down  his  stake  with  repeaieq 
blows  of  his  hatchet. 

"  You  are  a  great  deal  stronger  than  I  am  " 
said  Lucy.  "  You  can  drive  the  stake  down 
very  hard  indeed.  I  don't  believe  but  that  you 
could  make  a  hen-coop." 

"  Who  told  you  anything  about  a  hen-coop  ?  " 
said  Royal. 

"  Joanna,"  said  Lucy.  "  She  said  that  she 
was  a  fanner's  daughter  when  she  was  a  little 
girl,  and  that  she  had  a  hen  and  some  chickens  ; 
and  that  her  brother  made  her  a  hen-coop  pretty 
much  like  the  turtle-pen  you  made  down  by  the 
brook." 

"  I  could  make  a  hen-coop,"  said  Royal,  "  I 
know,  —  and  I  mean  to.  Perhaps  I  can  get 
some  hens  to  put  into  it.  At  all  events,  I  shall 
have  a  hen-coop." 

"  If  I  was  a  farmer's  daughter,"  said  Lucy,  "  1 
should  have  hens." 

"  But  you  can  have  hens  without  being  a  farm- 
er's daughter,"  said  Royal. 

"  How  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  you  and  I  could  buy  some  hens  witli 
our  own  money,  if  mother  would  let  us  ;  and  then 
I  could  make  a  coop." 


BUILDING.  91 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  mean  to  go  and  ask 
her  this  very  minute." 

"  No ;  stop,"  said  Royal.  "  That  won't  do  any 
good.  She  will  tell  you  to  a»k  father,  and  then 
he  won't  believe  that  we  can  make  a  coop,  and 
he  won't  want  to  take  the  trouble  to  have  one 
made  for  us,  and  so  he  will  say  no.  I'll  tell  you 
what  we  must  do.  We  must  make  the  coop  first, 
and  then,  when  it  is  all  ready,  we  can  ask  fathei 
if  we  may  buy  some  hens." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  tone  of  great  sat- 
isfaction, "  let  us  go  and  make  it  now." 

"  But  you  can't  help  make  it,  Lucy.  I  rfhall 
have  to  make  it  myself,  all  alone ;  and  so  the 
hens  must  be  mine." 

Lucy  did  not  like  the  plan  of  giving  up  all  the 
hens  to  Royal ;  but  Royal  insisted  upon  it  that 
he  should  have  to  do  all  the  work,  and,  of  course, 
that  he  must  have  the  hens  himself.  At  last, 
Lucy  said  that,  if  he  did  not  let  her  have  a  share, 
she  should  not  stay  with  him,  but  should  go  into 
the  house. 

But  Royal  did  not  like  at  all  to  stay  and  work 
alone.  He  tried  to  get  Lucy  to  remain,  and  at 
last  he  said  that,  if  she  would,  he  would  make  he/ 
a  garden  in  the  corner,  —  a  beautiful  garden,  full 
of  flowers. 


92  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Real  flowers  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  real  flowers,  —  all  in  blossom." 

"  How  shall  you  get  the  flowers  to  grow  *  " 
said  Lucy. 

"  O,  I  shall  get  them  already  grown,  in  trw 
gardens,  and  in  the  fields,  and  stick  them  down  in 
the  beds.  I  shall  make  beds  and  little  alleys  just 
like  a  real  garden." 

"  And  how  long  will  the  flowers  keep  bright  ?  " 
said  Lucy. 

"  O,  as  long  as  you  take  the  trouble  to  water 
them.  You  will  have  to  water  them,  you  know, 
—  and  Miss  Anne  will  lend  you  her  watering- 
pot." 

Lucy  was  pleased  with  this  proposal.  She 
liked  the  plan  of  having  such  a  garden  very 
much  ;  and  as  to  watering  it,  she  said  that  it 
would  be  no  trouble  at  all ;  she  should  like  to 
water  it.  So  it  was  agreed  that  Lucy  should 
stay  and  keep  Royal  company,  while  he  was 
making  the  coop,  and  help  him  all  she  could ; 
and  that  he  should  make  her  a  flower-garden,  and 
stock  it  well  with  real  flowers,  —  and  so  have  all 
the  hens  himself. 

They  then  walked  along  together,  to  look  out 
a  place  for  a  coop.  Lucy  said  that  she  wished 
there  was  an  old  hollow  stump  in  their  yard,  but 


BUILDING.  93 

there  was  nothing  like  one.  Royal  said  that  he 
had  heard  of  a  barrel  for  a  hen-coop ;  and  he 
just  then  recollected  that  there  was  a  corner 
round  behind  the  barn,  where  there  were  several 
old  boxes  and  ban-els ;  and  he  and  Lucy  went 
there  to  see  if  they  could  find  one  which  would 
do.  He  found  one  that  would  answer  the  pur- 
pose very  well. 

Lucy  wanted  to  help  Royal  roll  it  along,  and 
Royal  allowed  her  to  do  it,  though  he  could  roll 
it  very  easily  himself  alone ;  for  it  was  empty  and 
light.  It  seemed  to  please  Lucy  to  help  him, 
and  so  Royal  allowed  her  to  push  it  with  him. 

They  were,  for  some  time,  in  doubt  where  it 
would  be  best  to  put  their  coop  ;  but  at  last  they 
concluded  to  put  it  under  the  trees,  by  the  side  of 
the  great,  flat  stone.  Lucy  said  that  this  was  an 
excellent  place,  because  she  could  sit  at  Miss 
Anne's  window,  when  it  was  rainy,  so  that  she 
could  not  go  out,  and  see  the  hens  and  chickens. 

Royal  placed  the  barrel  down  upon  its  side, 
near  the  great  stone,  and  drove  down  stakes  on 
each  side  of  it,  to  keep  it  from  rolling.  Then  he 
made  a  great  many  other  stakes  out  of  narrow 
pieces  of  board,  which  he  found  around  a  pile  of 
lumber  behind  the  bam. 

As  fast  as  these  stakes   were   finished,  Lucy 


94  lucy's  conversations. 

wheeled  Uem  along,  upon  a  little  wheelbarrow 
to  the  place  where  the  coop  was  to  be  made.     So 
Royal  found  that,  besides  keeping  him  company, 
Lucy  could  really  assist  him,  much  more  than  he 
had  at  first  supposed  she  could. 

Royal  drove  the  stakes  down  into  the  ground, 
in  such  a  way  as  to  enclose  a  square  place.  The 
fence  formed  the  back  side  of  this  enclosure,  and 
it  was  bis  enough  to  hold  several  hens,  and  to 
give  them  room  to  walk  about  a  little.  When  it 
was  nearly  done,  Lucy  said  that  she  meant  to  gc 
and  ask  Joanna  to  come  out  and  see  it,  to  tell 
them  if  it  would  do. 

Royal  said  that  he  should  like  to  have  her  go, 
very  much  ;  though  he  was  pretty  sure  that  the 
coop  would  do  very  well.  Lucy  ran  off  into  the 
house,  and  after  a  little  while  she  appeared  again 
leading  Joanna. 

"  Yes,"  said  Joanna,  —  after  she  had  looked 
at  the  coop  a  minute  or  two,  with  a  smile  upon 
her  countenance,  —  "yes,  that  is  quite  a  coop, 
really." 

"  Isn't  it  a  good  coop  ? "  said  Royal.  "  See 
now  strong  these  stakes  are  driven  into  the 
ground." 

"  It  is  a  great  deal  better  than  I  thought  you 
could  make,'*  said  Joanna. 


BU1LDLNG.  95 

Joanna's  commendations  were  not  quite  so  un- 
qualified as  Royal  wished  them  to  be. 

"  Well,  don't  you  think,"  said  he,  "  that  it  will 
do  very  well  to  keep  hens  in  ? " 

"Why,  it  is  an  excellent  coop  for  you  and 
Lucy  to  play  with,"  said  Joanna ;  "  but  as  to 
keeping  hens  in  it,  there  are  two  objections." 

"  What  are  they  ? "  said  Royal. 

"Why,  the  foxes  and  cats  can  get  in,  and 
the  hens  and  chickens  can  get  out." 

"  How  ?  "  said  Royal.  "  How  can  the  hens 
get  out  ? " 

"  They  can  jump  over,"  said  Joanna. 

"  Well,  the  chickens  can't  jump  over,  at  any 
rate,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  how  can  they  get  out  ?  " 

"  They  can  creep  through,"  said  Joanna, 
gravely. 

Royal  and  Lucy  both  looked  rather  blank  at 
these  very  serious  objections  to  their  work.  After 
a  moment's  pause,  Royal  said, 

"  Do  foxes  and  cats  kill  hens  and  chickens  ?  " 

"  They  kill  chickens,"  said  Joanna,  "  and  that 
is  one  great  reason  for  making  a  coop." 

"  Is  there  any  other  reason  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  sometimes  they  want  to  keep  the  hens 
from  straying  away  to  the  neighbors',  or  getting 


96  Lucy's    CONVERSATIONS. 

into  the  garden,  and  scratching  up  the  seeds  and 
flowers." 

"  There  are  no  seeds  in  our  garden  now,"  said 
Royal. 

"  No,"  added  Lucy,  "  but  I  don't  want  to  have 
them  scratch  up  my  flowers." 

"  But,  Joanna,"  said  Royal,  "  is  not  this  just 
such  a  coop  as  your  brother  made  for  you  ?  Lucy 
said  it  was." 

"It  is  like  it  in  the  stakes ;  but  mine  had  a 
cover  over  the  top  of  it." 

"  I  can  put  a  cover  over  this,"  said  Royal. 

"O,  very  well ;  if  you  can  do  that,  I  think  it 
will  answer." 

After  Joanna  went  into  the  house,  Royal  tried 
to  contrive  some  way  to  put  a  cover  over  his 
coop ;  but  he  found  that  it  would  be  very  diffi- 
cult to  fasten  it  on.  The  tops  of  the  stakes  were 
not  steady  enough  to  nail  any  thing  to ;  and  be- 
sides, they  were  not  all  of  the  same  height ;  and, 
of  course,  if  he  should  put  boards  over  across,  they 
would  not  bi  steady.     At  last  he  said, 

"  O  Lucy,  I  have  thought  of  another  plan." 

"What  is  it?"  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  you  remember  those  great 
boxes  around  behind  the  bam,  where  we  got  out 
barrel." 


feUiLBING.  97 

Lucy  said  that  she  remembered  them  very  weL 

"  Now,"  continued  Royal,  "  I  will  get  one  of 
those  great  boxes  for  the  roof  of  my  coop.  There 
is  one  large,  flat  box,  which  will  be  just  the  thing 
I  will  pull  up  all  these  stakes,  and  drive  them 
down  again,  so  as  to  make  a  square,  just  as  big  as 
the  box." 

"  I  don't  understand,  exactly,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Royal,  "  it  is  not  necessary 
to  explain  it.  You  shall  see  how  I  will  do  it ;  let 
us  go  and  get  the  box*." 

Royal  and  Lucy  went  together  to  get  the  box. 
They  found  one  there  which  Royal  said  would  do 
very  well ;  the  bottom  of  it  was  about  as  large  as 
a  common  tea  table ;  but  the  sides  were  narrow, 
so  that,  when  it  was  placed  upon  the  giound, 
with  the  open  part  up,  it  was  not  very  deep. 

Royal  attempted  to  roll  this  box  out ;  but  he 
found  it  much  harder  to  move  than  the  barrel  was, 
This  was  partly  because  it  was  larger  and  heavier, 
and  partly  because  it  would  not  roll,  on  account 
of  its  square  form. 

However,  they  contrived  to  get  it  out,  and  to 
tvork  it  along  through  a  gate  which  led  into  a 
large  outer  yard.  By  this  time,  however,  they 
both  got  tired,  and  Royal  said  that  ho  meruit  to 
get  some  lollers,  and  roll  it  along. 


98 


So  lie  brought  some  round  sticks  of  wood  from 
.he  wood  pile,  for  rollers  ;  and  with  a  bar  of  wood. 
which  he  found  also  upon  the  wood  pile,  he  pried 
the  box  up,  and  Lucy  put  two  rollers  under  it,  one 
at  each  end.  They  also  placed  another  roller  a 
little  way  before  the  box.  Royal  then  went  be- 
hind the  box,  and  with  his  bar  of  wood  for  a 
lever,  he  pried  the  box  along ;  and  he  found  it 
moved  very  easily  upon  the  rollers. 

Lucy  wanted  a  lever  too,  —  and  she  went  and 
got  one ;  and  then  they  could  both  pry  the  box 
along,  one  at  each  corner,  behind.  They  had  to 
stop  occasionally  to  adjust  the  rollers,  when  they 
worked  out  of  place ;  but,  by  patience  and  perse- 
verance, they  gradually  moved  the  box  along 
until  they  came  to  the  gate  leading  into  the  inner 
yard,  where  the  place  for  the  coop  had  been 
chosen. 

They  found  some  difficulty  in  getting  it  through 
the  gate,  because  it  was  too  large  to  go  through  in 
c.ny  way  but  by  being  lifted  up  upon  its  side. 
Royal,  however,  succeeded  in  lifting  it  up,  and  then 
in  getting  it  through ;  and  after  that  it  was  but  a 
short  work  to  move  it  along  upon  its  rollers  to  its 
place  of  destination. 

Royal  sat  down  upon  the  great,  flat  stone,  and 
said  that  he  was  tired,  and  that  he  had  a  great 


BUILDING.  99 

mind  not  to  make  a  coop  after  all,  —  it  was  such 
hard  work. 

"  Then,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  don't  think  you  will 
he  very  persevering." 

"  I  don't  believe  you  know  what  persevering 
means,"  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,  I  do,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  Miss  Anne  told  me. 
It  is  when  you  begin  to  make  a  coop,  and  then 
give  up  before  you  get  it  done." 

Royal  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter. 

"  No,"  said  Lucy ;  "  not  that,  exactly.  1 
mean  it  is  when  you  don't  give  up  —  and  I  think 
you  ought  not  to  give  up  now  —  making  this 
coop." 

"  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  I  believe  you  are  light. 
It  would  be  very  foolish  to  give  up  our  coop  now, 
when  we  have  got  all  the  hardest  part  of  our 
work  done.     I'll  go  and  get  the  corner  stakes." 

Royal  then  went  and  made  four  strong  stakes 
for  the  four  corners,  and  brought  them  to  the 
place,  and  drove  them  down  into  the  ground.  He 
took  care  to  have  them  at  just  such  a  distance 
from  each  other,  as  that  they  should  come  as  near 
as  possible  to  the  four  corners  of  the  box,  when  it 
should  be  placed  over  them. 

Then  he  drove  a  row  of  stakes  along  where  the 
sides  of  the  box  would  come,  between  the  corner 


100 


stakes  on  each  side ;  and  he  drove  these  all  down 
a  little  lower  than  the  corner  stakes,  so  that,  when 
the  box  should  be  placed  over  them,  it  would  rest 
upon  the  corners,  and  not  upon  the  sides.  Before 
he  closed  the  last  side,  he  rolled  the  barrel  in,  and 
placed  it  along  by  the  fence.  Then  he  put  a 
roller  under  it,  on  the  outer  side,  —  so  that  thus 
the  barrel  was  confined,  and  could  not  move 
either  way. 

"  Now,  Lucy,  we  are  ready  for  a  raising,"  said 
Royal ;  "  but  we  shall  never  be  able  to  get  the 
box  up,  by  ourselves,  if  we  work  all  day." 

They  concluded  to  ask  Joanna  to  come  out 
again,  and  help  them  get  the  box  up.  She  came 
very  willingly,  and  all  three  of  them  together  easi- 
ly succeeded  in  putting  the  heavy  box  into  its 
place ;  and  Royal  had  the  satisfaction  of  perceiv- 
ing that  it  fitted  very  well.  Joanna  then  said  that, 
for  aught  she  could  see,  their  structure  would 
make  a  very  safe  and  convenient  coop. 

When  their  father  and  mother  came  to  see  their 
work  that  evening,  their  father  said  that  it  would 
do  very  well  for  a  coop,  but  that  it  was  too  late  in 
the  year  to  get  hens. 

l-  If  I  get  some  hens  for  you,"  said  he,  "  it  will 
be  several  weeks  before  they  lay  eggs  enough 
to  hatch ;  and  then  the  chickens  would  not  have 


BUILDING.  101 

grown  enough  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  cold 
of  the  winter.  It  is  full  as  late  now  as  any  brood 
of  chickens  ought  to  come  out." 

Royal  and  Lucy  looked  greatly  disappointed  at 
this  unexpected  announcement.  It  was  a  diffi- 
culty that  had  not  occurred  to  them  at  all.  Their 
father  was  always  very  much  pressed  with  his 
business,  and  could  seldom  give  much  time  or  at- 
tention to  their  plays ;  but  they  thought  that,  if 
they  could  make  all  the  arrangements,  so  that 
they  could  take  care  of  the  hens  without  troubling 
him,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  at  all.  They 
did  not  know  but  that  hens  would  lay  and  hatch 
as  well  and  as  safely  at  one  time  as  at  another. 

Lucy  had  some  corn  in  her  hand.  Her  father 
asked  her  what  that  was  for.  She  said  it  was  to 
put  into  the  coop  for  the  hens.  She  had  asked 
Joanna  for  some,  and  she  had  given  it  to  her,  be- 
cause she  said  she  wanted  some  corn  all  ready. 

Here  her  mother  whispered  something  to  he? 
father,  which  Lucy  and  Royal  did  not  hear. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  in  a  low  tone,  in  reply,  speak- 
ing to  her  mother,  "  perhaps  I  can ;  very  likely." 

Royal  wondered  what  they  were  talking  about, 
but  he  did  not  ask. 

"  Well,  Lucy,"  said  her  father,  "  throw  youi 
corn  into  the  coop,  and  about  the  door ;  perhaps 


102  lucy's  conversations. 

you  can  catch  some  hens  in  it.  Who  knows  but 
that  it  will  do  for  a  trap  ? " 

"  O  father,"  said  Royal,  "  you  are  only  making 
fun  of  us." 

"  Why,  you  have  caught  squirrels,  haven't  you, 
time  and  again  ?  and  why  not  hens  ? " 

"  Nonsense,  father,"  said  Royal ;  "  there  are  no 
hens  to  come  and  get  caught  in  traps." 

u  Perhaps,  Royal, "  said  Lucy,  as  she  scattered 

her  corn  into  the  coop,  "  Perhaps. We  will 

put  in  the  corn,  at  least,  —  and  leave  the  door 
open." 

So  Lucy  put  the  corn  in  and  about  the  door  ■ 
and  then  the  party  all  went  away  laughing.  Lucy 
forgot  her  disappointment  in  the  hope  of  catching 
some  hens,  and  Royal  in  the  amusement  excited 
bv  such  an  idea  as  setting  a  trap  for  poultry. 


EQUIVOCATION  803 

CONVERSATION    IX. 

EQUIVOCATION. 

Immediately  after  breakfast,  the  next  morning, 
Lacy  went  out  to  look  at  the  coop  to  see  if  any 
hens  had  been  caught ;  and  when  she  came  back, 
and  said  that  there  were  none  there,  her  father  said 
that  she  must  not  despair  too  soon,  —  sometimes 
a  trap  was  out  several  nights  before  anything  was 
taken. 

That  day,  after  Royal  had  finished  his  lessons 
Lucy  called  upon  him  to  fulfil  his  promise  of 
making  her  a  garden. 

"  Why,  Lucy,"  said  Royal,  "  I  don't  think  1  am 
under  any  obligation  to  make  you  any  garden." 

"  Yes,  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  "you  promised  me 
that  you  would,  if  I  would  help  you  make  the 
coop." 

"  Well,  that  was  because  I  expected  that  we 
cculd  have  some  hens  ;  lut,  now  that  we  can* 
not  have  any  hens,  the  coop  will  not  do  us  any 
good  at  all ;  and  I  don't  see  that  I  ought  to  make 
you  a  garden  for  nothing." 


104  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

Lucy  did  not  know  how  In  answer  .nis  rea 
Boning,  but  she  was  very  far  from  being  satisfied 
with  it.  She,  however,  had  nothing  to  say,  but 
that  he  had  agreed  to  make  her  a  garden,  and 
that  she  thought  he  ouorht  to  do  it. 

Royal  said  that  he  meant  if  they  got  any  hens 
to  put  into  the  coop  ;  and  Lucy  said  she  did  not 
believe  that  he  meant  any  such  thing. 

Royal  was  wrong  in  refusing  thus  to  fulfil  his 
agreement.  And  the  reason  which  he  gave  was 
not  a  good  reason.  He  did,  indeed,  expect,  when 
he  made  the  promise,  that  he  should  have  somj 
hens  to  put  into  his  hen-coop;  but  he  did  not 
make  his  promise  on  that  condition.  The  prom- 
ise was  absolute  —  if  she  would  help  him  make 
his  coop,  he  would  make  her  a  garden.  When 
she  had  finished  helping  him  make  the  coop,  her 
part  of  the  agreement  was  fulfilled,  and  he  was 
bound  to  fulfil  his. 

At  last  Lucy  said, 

"  If  you  don't  make  me  a  garden,  I  shall  go 
and  tell  Joanna  of  you." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Royal ;  "  we  will  go  and 
leave  it  to  Joanna,  and  let  her  decide." 

They  went  in  and  stated  the  case  to  Joanna. 
When  she  heard  all  the  facts,  she  decided  at  once 
against  Royal. 


EQUIVOCATION.  l'J5 

u  Certainly  you  ought  to  make  her  a  garden," 
said  Joanna.  "  There  bein^  no  hens  has  nothing 
to  do  with  it.  You  took  the  risk.  You  took  the 
risk." 

Lucy  did  not  understand  what  Joanna  meant 
by  taking  the  risk,  but  she  understood  that  the  de- 
cision was  in  her  favor,  and  she  ran  off  out  of  the 
kitchen  in  great  glee.  Royal  followed  her  more 
slowly. 

"  Well,  Lucy,"  said  he,  "  I'll  make  you  a  gar- 
den.    I'd  as  lief  make  it  as  not." 

He  accordingly  worked  very  industriously  upon 
the  garden  for  more  than  an  hour.  He  dug  up 
all  the  ground  with  his  hoe,  and  then  raked  it 
over  carefully.  Then  he  marked  out  an  alley 
through  the  middle  of  it,  for  Lucy  to  walk  in, 
when  she  was  watering  her  flowers.  He  also 
divided  the  sides  into  little  beds,  though  the  paths 
between  the  beds  were  too  narrow  to  walk  in. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  Lucy,  for  the  flowers." 

So  they  set  off  upon  an  expedition  after  flow- 
ers- They  got  some  in  the  garden,  and  some  in 
the  fields.  Some  Royal  took  up  by  the  roots ; 
out  most  of  them  were  broken  off  at  the  stem,  so 
as  to  be  stuck  down  into  the  ground.  Lucy 
asked  him  if  they  would  grow  ;  and  he  said  that 
be  did  not  know  that  they  would  grow  much,  buf 


106 


LUCY  S    CONVERSATIONS. 


they  would  keep  bright  and  beautiful  as  long  a* 
she  would  water  them. 

Miss  Anne  lent  Lucy  her  watering-pot,  to 
water  her  Sewers,  and  she  said  that,  after  dinner, 
she  would  go  out  and  see  her  garden.  Accord- 
ingly, after  dinner,  they  made  preparations  to  go. 
While  Miss  Anne  was  putting  on  her  sun-bonnet, 
Royal  waited  for  her ;  but  Lucy  ran  out  before 
mem.  In  a  moment,  however,  after  she  had  gone 
out,  she  came  running  back  in  the  highest  state 
of  excitement,  calling  out, 

"  O  Royal,  we  have  caught  them !  we  have 
caught  them !  O,  come  and  see !  come,  Miss 
Anne,  come  quick  and  see  !  " 

And  before  they  had  time  to  speak  to  her,  or 
even  to  ask  what  she  meant,  she  was  away  again, 
calling,  as  she  passed  away  from  hearing,  "  Come, 
some,  come ! " 

Royal  left  Miss  Anne,  and  ran  off  after  Lucy. 

Miss  Anne  herself  walked  along  after  them, 
and  found  them  looking  through  the  bars  of  the 
hen-coop,  and  in  a  state  of  the  highest  delight 
at  the  sight  of  a  hen  and  a  large  brood  of  chick- 
ens, which  were  walking  about  within. 

"  O,  look,  Miss  Anne !  "  said  Lucy,  clapping 
her  hands  as  Miss  Anne  came  up.  "  A  real  hen, 
and  ever  so  man>  chickens ! " 


EQUIVOCATION.  107 

"  Where  could  they  have  come  from  ? "  said 
Miss  Anne. 

"  O,  we  caught  them,"  said  Lucy ;  "  we 
caught  them.  I  told  you,  Royal,  that  perhaps  we 
should  catch  some.,, 

"  How  did  they  get  here  ? "  said  Royal.  "  It 
is  some  of  father's  sly  work,  I  know.  Do  you 
know,  Miss  Anne,  how  they  came  here  ?  " 

"  Let  us  see  how  many  chickens  there  are," 
said  Miss  Anne.  "  One,  two,  three,"  —  and  so 
she  went  on  counting  up  to  thirteen. 

"  Thirteen,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  only  think  !  More 
than  Joanna's,  isn't  it,  Royal  ?  Thirteen  is  more 
than  eleven,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  two  more,"  said  Royal ;  "  but,  Miss 
Anne,  don't  you  know  how  they  came  here  ?  " 

Miss  Anne  looked  rather  sly,  but  did  not  an- 
swer.    She  said  to  Lucy, 

"  Well,  Lucy,  let  us  go  and  see  your  garden." 

Lucy  did  not  now  care   so   much  about  her 
garden  ;  she  was  more  interested  in  the  chickens , 
however,  they  all  went  to  look  at  it,  and  Miss 
Anne  praised  it  very  highly.     She  said  the  flow 
f  rs  looked  beautifully. 

"  And  now,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  *'  when 
ever  I  want  any  flowers,  I  can  come  out  here  and 
gather  them  out  of  my  garden." 


f08 

"  yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  as  long  as  they 
last." 

"  O,  they  will  last  all  the  time,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Will  they  ?  "  said  Miss  Anne,  rather  doubt- 
fully. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  am  going  to  water 
them," 

"  That  will  help,"  replied  Miss  Anne,  "  I  have 
no  doubt." 

"  I  can  keep  them  fresh  as  long  as  I  want  to, 
in  that  way,"  said  Lucy.     "  Royal  said  so." 

"  Did  you,  Royal  ?  "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  No,"  said  Royal.  "  I  said  that  they  would 
keep  fresh  as  long  as  she  watered  them." 

kfc  That  wasn't  quite  honest,  was  it,  Royal  ? 
for  they  won't  keep  fresh  more  than  two  days." 

•':  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  and  she  won't  have  pa- 
tience to  water  them  more  than  one  day." 

"  That's  equivocation,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Equivocation  ?  "  repeated  Royal ;  "  what  do 
yju  mean  by  that  ? " 

"  It  is  when  anything  you  say  has  two  senses, 
and  it  is  true  in  one  sense,  and  not  true  in  another ; 
and  you  mean  to  have  any  person  understand  it 
11  the  sense  in  which  it  is  not  true." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  said  Lucy. 

u  Why,  I   will  give  you   an  example.     Once 


EQUIVOCATION.  109 

there  was  a  boy  who  told  his  brother  William, 
that  there  was  a  black  dog  up  in  the  garret,  and 
William  ran  up  to  see.  His  brother  came  up  b© 
hind  him,  and,  when  they  opened  the  garret  dooi  „ 
he  pointed  to  an  old  andiron,  such  as  are  called 
dogs,  and  said, '  See !  there  he  is,  standing  on  three 
legs."' 

Royal  laughed  very  heartily  at  this  story.  He 
was  much  more  amused  at  the  waggery  of  such 
a  case  of  equivocation,  than  impressed  with  the 
dishonesty  of  it. 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  he,  "  I  don't  see  that  there 
was  any  great  harm  in  that." 

"  Equivocation  is  not  wrong  always,"  said  Miss 
Anne.     "  Riddles  are  often  equivocations." 

"  Tell  us  one,"  said  Royal 

"  Why,  there  is  your  old  riddle  of  the  carpentei 
cutting  the  door.  He  cut  it,  and  cut  it,  and  cut 
it,  and  cut  it  too  little ;  then  he  cut  it  again,  and 
it  fitted." 

"  Is  that  an  equivocation  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  the  equivocation  is 
in  the  word  little.  It  may  mean  that  he  cut  to* 
little,  *r  that  he  cut  until  the  door  was  too  little. 
Now,  when  you  give  out  that  riddle,  you  mean 
that  the  person  whom  you  are  talking  with, 
should  understand  it  in  the  last  sense;  that  is 
10 


110  LUCYS    CONVERSATIONS. 

that  he  cut  until  the  door  was  too  little,  and  then 
that  he  cut  it  more,  and  it  was  just  right.  But 
it  cannot  be  true  in  that  sense.  It  is  true  onlj 
in  the  other  sense ;  that  is,  that  he  did  not  cut 
it  enough,  and  then,  when  he  cut  it  more,  he  made 
it  fit.  So  that  he  cut  it  too  little,  has  two  senses. 
The  words  are  true  in  one  sense  ;  but  you  mean 
to  have  them  understood  in  the  other  sense,  in 
which  they  cannot  be  true.  And  that  is  an  equiv- 
ocation, 

'•'  But,  then,"  continued  Miss  Anne, ';  equivoca 
fjons  in  riddles  are  certainly  not  wrong ;  but  equiv- 
ocations in  our  dealings  with  one  another  certainly 
are." 

"  I  don't  think  that  the  boy  that  said  there  was 
a  dog  up  garret  did  any  thing  wrong,"  said  Royal. 

"  I  do,"  said  Lucy,  putting  down  her  little  foot 
with  great  emphasis.  "  I  think  he  did  very  wrong 
indeed." 

"  O  no,  Lucy,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  not  very 
wrong  indeed.  Perhaps  it  was  not  quite  right. 
But  it  is  certainly  wrong  to  gain  any  advantage 
from  any  person  in  your  dealings  with  them,  by 
equivocation." 

"  Did  I  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,  I  think  you  did,  a  little.  You  told  Lucy 
that  the  flowers  would  keep  fresh  as  long  as  she 


EQUIVOCATION.  Ill 

would  water  them.  You  meant  her  to  understand 
it  absolutely ;  but  it  is  true  only  in  another  sense." 

"  In  what  sense  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Why,  as  long  as  she  ivould  be  likely  to  water 
them ;  which  is  a  very  different  thing.  Perhaps 
she  would  not  have  been  willing  to  make  the 
bargain  with  you,  if  she  had  understood  that  she 
could  not  keep  them  fresh  by  watering  them,  more 
than  a  day  or  two." 

While  they  had  been  talking  thus,  they  had 
gradually  been  walking  towards  the  house,  and 
they  had  now  reached  the  door.  Miss  Anne 
went  in,  and  Lucy  and  Royal  went  to  the  hen- 
coop to  see  the  hen  and  chickens. 

Lucy  went  to  get  some  corn,  but  Joanna  told 
<ier  that  crumbs  of  bread  would  be  better,  and 
lien  the  old  hen  could  break  them  up  into  small 
pieces,  and  feed  her  chickens  with  them.  She 
accordingly  gave  her  some  small  pieces  of  bread, 
which  Lucy  earned  back ;  and  she  and  Royal 
amused  themselves  for  a  long  time,  by  throwing 
crumbs  in  through  the  spaces  between  the  sticks. 

While  they  were  talking  about  them,  Roya 
happened  to  speak  of  them  as  his  hen  and  chick- 
ens, and  Lucy  said  that  she  thought  he  ought  not 
to  have  them  all.  She  wanted  some  herself,  —  at 
least  some  of  the  chickens. 


112  lucy's  conversations. 

u  O  no,"  said  Royal ;  "  they  are  altogether 
mine;  it  is  my  coop." 

"  No,"  replied  Lucy  ;  "  I  helped  you  make  the 
coop,  and  I  mean  to  have  some  of  the  cliickens.,; 

"  Yes,  but,  Lucy,  you  promised  me  that  1 
should  have  the  coop  anr*  the  hens,  if  I  would 
make  you  a  garden." 

"  Yes,  but  not  the  chickens,' '  said  Lucy ;  "  I  did 
not  say  a  word  about  the  chickens/' 

"  O  Lucy,  that  was  because  we  did  not  expect 
to  have  an)  chickens ;  but  it  is  all  the  same 
thing." 

"  What  is  all  the  same  thing  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  hens  and  chickens,"  said  Royal. 

"  O  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  "  they  are  very  differ- 
ent indeed."  Lucy  looked  through  the  bars  of  the 
hen-coop,  at  the  hen  and  chickens,  and  was  quite 
surprised  that  Royal  could  say  that  they  were  all 
the  same  thing. 

"  In  a  bargain,  Lucy,  I  mean ;  in  a  bargain,  I 
mean.  If  you  make  a  bargain  about  hens,  you 
mean  all  the  chickens  too." 

"  J  didn't,  I  am  sure,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  nevet 
thought  of  such  a  thing  as  the  chickens ;  and  be 
sides,  you  did  not  make  me  such  a  garden  as  you 
oromised  me." 

"  Whv,  yes  I  did,"  said  Royal. 


EQUIVOCATION.  113 

•<  No,"  said  Lucy,  "you  told  me  an  equivo- 
cation." 

Royal  laughed. 

"  You  did,  Royal ;  you  know  you  did ;  and 
Miss  Anne  said  so. 

"  J  think  it  was  a  falsehood,  myself,"  continued 
Lucy,  "  or  almost  a  falsehood." 

"  O  no,  Lucy ;  1  don't  think  you  would  water 
them  more  than  one  day,  and  1  knew  that  they 
would  keep  fresh  as  long  as  that." 

Lucy  was  silent.  She  did  not  know  exactly 
how  to  reply  to  Royal's  reasoning ;  but  she 
thought  it  was  very  hard,  that  out  of  the  whole 
thirteen  chickens,  Royal  would  not  let  her  have 
any  to  call  hers. 

She  told  Royal  that  she  only  wanted  two ;  if 
he  would  let  her  have  two,  she  should  be  satis- 
fied ;  —  but  Royal  said  that  he  wanted  them  all ; 
that  she  had  the  garden,  and  he  must  have  the 
h*n  and  chickens. 

Lucy  might  very  probably  have  said  something 
further  on  the  subject;  but  at  that  moment  she 
spied  a  little  chicken,  with  black  and  yellow 
feathers,  just  creeping  through  between  the  bars 
of  the  coop.  A  moment  more,  and  he  was  fairly 
out  upon  tne  grass  outside. 

in* 


114  lucy's  conversations. 

"  O  Royal !  n  exclaimed  Lucy,  "  one  is  out 
one  is  out !  1  can  catch  him." 

"No,"  said  Royal,  "let  me  catch  him.  You 
will  hurt  him." 

They  hoth  started  up,  and  ran  after  the  chicken ; 
while  he,  frightened  at  their  pursuit,  and  at  \m 
strange  situation  in  the  grass,  ran  off  farther  and 
farther,  peeping  with  great  earnestness  and  noise 
Royal  caught  at  him,  but  did  not  catch  him.  He 
darted  off  towards  where  Lucy  was,  and  at  that 
instant  Lucy  clapped  her  hand  over  him,  and 
held  him  a  prisoner. 

The  poor  hen  was  much  alarmed  at  the  cries 
of  the  lost  chicken  ;  and  she  pushed  her  head 
through  the  bars  of  the  cage,  trying  to  get  out, 
and  apparently  in  great  distress. 

"  Give  him  to  me,"  said  Royal,  "  and  I'll  put 
him  back  again." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  am  going  to  carry  him  in, 
and  show  him  to  Joanna." 

"  O,  well,"  said  Royal,  "  only  give  him  to  me. 
and  let  me  carry  him.     You  will  hurt  him." 

"  No,  I  won't  hurt  him,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  I  will  l»« 
very  careful  indeed." 

So  she  put  the  tender  little  animal  very  gently 
n  one  of  her  hands,  and  covered  him  with  tli* 
>ther. 


EQUIVOCATION. 


II? 


"  O,  what  soft  feathers ! "  said  Lucy. 

"Yes,"  said  Royal;  "and  see  his  little  bill 
sticking  out  between  your  fingers !  " 

Thus  they  went  into  the  house,  —  first  to  Jo- 
anna, and  afterwards  to  Miss  Anne ;  and  the 
hen,  when  the  lost  chicken  was  out  of  hearing, 
soon  regained  her  composure.  She  had  a  dozen 
chickens  left,  and  as  she  could  not  count,  she  did 
»at  know  but  that  there  were  thirteen. 


118 


CONVERSATION    X. 
JOHNNY. 

Miss  Anne  was  very  much  pleased  to  see  tlie 
^ttle  chicken.  She  sent  Royal  out  after  a  small, 
square  piece  of  board.  While  he  was  gone,  she 
got  a  small  flake  of  cotton  batting,  and  also  an 
old  work-basket,  from  the  upper  shelf  of  her 
closet.  Then,  when  Royal  came  in  with  the 
Doard,  she  put  the  cotton  upon  it,  shaping  it  in 
the  form  of  a  nest.  She  put  the  chicken  upon 
this  nest,  and  then  turned  the  basket  down  over 
it,  which  formed  a  sort  of  cage,  to  keep  the  little 
prisoner  from  getting  away.  Royal  and  Lucy 
could  look  through  the  open-work  of  the  basket, 
and  see  him. 

But  Miss  Anne,  though  pleased  with  the  chick- 
en, was  very  sorry  to  find  that  Royal  had  so  mo- 
nopolizing a  spirit.  A  monopolizing  spirit  is  an 
eager  desire  to  get  for  ourselves,  alone,  that  which 
others  ought  to  have  a  share  of.  Royal  wanted 
to  own  the  hen  and  chickens  himself,  and  to 
exclude,  or  ^hut  out,  Lucy  from  all  share  of  them 


JOHNNY.  119 

He  wished  to  monopolize  them.  Too  eager  a 
desire  to  get  what  others  have,  is  sometimes  called 
covetowness.  Miss  Anne  resolved  to  have  a  con- 
versation with  Royal  about  his  monopolizing  and 
covetous  disposition. 

She  did  not,  however,  have  a  very  good  oppor- 
tunity until  several  days  after  this ;  but  then  a 
circumstance  occurred  which  naturally  introduced 
the  subject. 

The  circumstance  was  this. 

The  children  were  taking  a  walk  with  Miss 
Anne.  They  went  to  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  house,  by  a  path  through  the  woods,  and 
came  at  length  to  the  banks  of  a  mill  stream. 
The  water  tumbled  over  the  rocks  which  filled 
the  bed  of  the  stream.  There  was  a  narrow  road 
along  the  bank,  and  Miss  Anne  turned  into  this 
road,  and  walked  along  up  towards  the  mill,  which 
was  only  a  short  distance  above. 

They  saw,  before  them,  at  a  little  distance,  a 
boy  about  as  large  as  Royal,  cutting  off  the  end 
of  a  long,  slender  pole. 

"  O,  see  what  a  beautiful  fishing-pole  that  bov 
has  got ! "  said  Royal. 

"  Is  that  a  fishing-pole  ? "  said  Lucy. 

Just  then  the  boy  called  out,  as  if  he  was 
speaking  to  somebody  in  the  bushes. 


120 


"  Come,  George  ;  ain't  you  most  ready  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  George,  "  I  have  got  mine 
just  ready;  but  I  want  to  get  a  little  one  for 
Johnny." 

"  O,  never  mind  Johnny,"  said  the  other  boy  ; 
"he  can't  fish." 

By  this  time,  the  children  had  advanced  so  far 
that  they  could  see  George  and  Johnny,  in  a  little 
open  place  among  the  bushes.  George  was  about 
as  large  as  the  other  boy ;  and  he  was  just  finish- 
ing the  trimming  up  of  another  pole,  very  much 
like  the  one  which  the  children  had  seen  first. 
There  was  a  very  small  boy  standing  by  him, 
who,  as  the  children  supposed,  was  Johnny.  He 
was  looking  on,  while  George  finished  his  pole. 

"  I  would  not  get  Johnny  one,"  said  the  boy 
in  the  road.     "  He  can't  do  any  thing  with  it." 

"  No,"  said  George,  "  but  he  will  like  to  have 
one,  so  that  he  can  make  believe  fish  ;  shouldn't 
you,  Johnny  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Johnny ;  or  rather  he  said  some- 
thing that  meant  yes ;  for  he  could  not  speak  very 
plain. 

"Well,"  said  tie  boy  in  the  road,  "  I  am  nol 
going  to  wait  any  longer."  He  accordingly  shul 
up  his  knife,  put  it  into  his  pocket,  and  walked 
along. 


Johnny.  121 

George  scrambled  back  into  the  bushes,  and 
began  to  look  about  for  a  pole  for  Johnny.  Miss 
Anne  and  the  children  were  now  opposite  to 
them. 

"  Johnny,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "do  you  expect 
that  you  can  catch  fishes  ?  " 

Johnny  did  not  answer,  but  stood  motionless, 
gazing  upon  the  strangers  in  silent  wonder. 

Miss  Anne  smiled,  and  walked  on,  and  the 
children  followed  her.  Presently  George  and 
Johnny  came  up  behind  them,  —  George  walk- 
ing fast,  and  Johnny  trotting  along  by  his  side. 
When  they  had  got  before  them  a  little  way, 
they  turned  out  of  the  road  into  a  path  which  led 
down  towards  the  stream,  which  here  was  at  a 
little  distance  from  the  road.  The  path  led  in 
among  trees  and  bushes ;  and  so  Miss  Anne  and 
ihe  children  soon  lost  sight  of  them  entirely. 

"  George  seems  to  be  a  strange  sort  of  a  boy," 
said  Mis?  Anne. 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Royal. 

"  Why,  he  cannot  be  contented  to  have  a  fish- 
ing-pole himself,  unless  little  Johnny  has  one 
too." 

*'  Is  that  very  strange?  "  asked  Royal. 

"  I  thought  it  was  rather  unusual."  said  Miss 
11 


122 


Anue.  "  Boys  generally  want  to  get  things  foi 
themselves;  but  I  did  not  know  that  they  were 
usually  so  desirous  to  have  their  brothers  grati- 
fied too." 

"  I  do,"  said  Royal ;  "  that  is,  I  should,  if  I 
had  a  brother  big  enough." 

"  You  have  a  sister,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  if  I  was  going  a  fishing, 
and  Lucy  was  going  too,  1  should  want  to  have 
her  have  a  fishing-pole  as  well  as  I." 

"  It  is  not  always  so  with  boys,  at  any  rate," 
said  Miss  Anne.  "  And  that  makes  me  think  of  a 
curious  thing  that  happened  once.  A  little  boy, 
whom  I  knew,  had  a  beautiful  picture-book  spoiled 
by  a  little  gray  dog,  in  a  very  singular  way." 

"  How  was  it? "  said  Royal. 

"Tell  us,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy;  "tell  us 
all  about  it." 

"  Well,  this  boy's  father  bought  him  a  very  beau- 
tiful picture-book,  with  colored  pictures  in  it,  and 
brought  it  home,  and  gave  it  to  him.  And  the 
next  day  the  little  gray  dog  spoiled  it  entirely." 

"  How  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Guess." 

"  Why,  he  bit  it,  and  tore  it  to  pieces  with  his 
teeth,  I  suppose, "  said  Lucy. 


JOHNNY.  123 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Then  he  must  have  trampled  on  it  with  nis 
muddy  feet,"  said  Royal. 

"  No."  said  Miss  Anne,  "  it  could  not  oe  m 
any  such  way,  for  it  was  not  a  live  dog." 

"  Not  a  live  dog  ! "  said  Lucy. 

"  No,  it  was  a  little  glass  dog,  —  gray  glass , 
only  he  had  black  ears  and  tail." 

"  I  don't  see  how  he  could  spoil  a  book,"  said 
Royal. 

"  He  did,"  answered  Miss  Anne. 

"  The  book  gave  Joseph  a  great  deal  of  pleas- 
ure before  the  dog  came,  and  after  that,  it  was 
good  for  nothing  to  him." 

"  Joseph  ? "  said  Royal ;  "  who  was  he  ?  " 

"  Why,  he  was  the  little  boy  that  had  the  book. 
Didn't  I  tell  you  his  name  before?  " 

"  No,"  said  Royal ;  "  but  tell  us  how  the  dog 
spoiled  the  book." 

"  Why,  you  must  understand,"  said  Miss  Anne, 
"  that  Joseph  had  a  little  sister  at  home,  named 
Mary ;  and  when  their  father  brought  home  the 
Dook  to  Joseph,  he  had  nothing  for  Mary.  Bui 
the  next  day,  he  was  in  a  toy-shop,  and  he  saw 
this  little  glass  dog,  and  he  thought  that  it  would 
be  a  very  pretty  little  present  for  Mary.  So 
he  bought  it,  and  carried  it  home  to  her." 


124  LUCVs    CONVERSATIONS. 

"  Well,  Miss  Anne,  tell  on,"  said  Lucy,  when 
she  found  that  Miss  Anne  paused,  as  if  she  was 
not  going  to  say  anything  more. 

"  Why,  that  is  about  all,"  said  Miss  Anne, 
"  only  that  he  gave  the  dog  to  Mary." 

"  But  you  said  that  the  dog  spoiled  Joseph's 
book." 

"  So  it  did.  You  see,  when  Joseph  came  to  see 
the  dog,  he  wanted  it  himself,  so  much  that  he 
threw  his  book  down  upon  the  floor,  and  came 
begging  for  the  dog ;  and  he  could  not  take 
any  pleasure  at  all  in  the  book  after  that." 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  said  Royal ;  "  I  supposed  it  was 
going  to  be  something  different  from  that." 

"  Then  you  don't  think  it  is  much  of  a  storv  !  " 

"  No,"  said  Royal. 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Well,  now,  J  thought,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that 
that  was  rather  a  singular  way  for  a  dog  to  spoil  a 
picture-book." 

There  was  a  moment's  pause  after  Miss  Anne 
had  said  these  words ;  and  then,  an  instant  af- 
terwards, the  whole  party  came  suddenly  out 
of  the  woods ;  and  the  mill,  with  a  bridge  near  it, 
crossing  the  stream,  came  into  view. 

"  O,  there  is  a  bridge,"  said  Lucy ;  "  let  us  go 
over  that  bridge." 


JOIINNY.  125 

"  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  so  we  will. 

They  walked  on  towards  the  bridge ;  but,  just 
before  they  got  to  it,  Royal  observed  that  there 
were  ledges  of  rocks  below  the  bridge,  running 
out  into  the  water;  and  he  said  that  he  should 
rather  go  down  upon  those  rocks. 

Miss  Anne  said  that  she  should  like  to  go  down 
there  too,  very  much,  if  she  thought  it  was  safe ; 
and  she  concluded  to  go  down,  slowly  and  carefully, 
and  see.  They  found  that,  by  exercising  great 
caution,  they  could  advance  farther  than  they  had 
supposed.  Sometimes  Royal,  who  was  pretty 
strong,  helped  Miss  Anne  and  Lucy  down  a  steep 
place ;  and  sometimes  they  had  to  step  over  a 
narrow  portion  of  the  torrent.  They  found  them- 
selves at  last  all  seated  safely  upon  the  margin  of 
a  rocky  island,  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  with 
the  water  foaming,  and  roaring,  and  shooting  swift- 
ly by,  all  around  them. 

"  There,"  said  Royal, "  isn't  this  a  good  place  I  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  never  saw  the  water 
run  so  much  before." 

"  Children,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  look  down 
there!" 

"  Where  ?  "  said  Royal. 

u  There,  upon  the  bank,  under  the  trees,  down 
11* 


126 


on  that  side  of  the  stream,  —  a  little  below  that 
large,  white  rock." 

"  Some  boys,"  said  Royal.     They're  fishing." 

"  I  see  'em,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Royal,  "  they  are  the  same  boys 
we  saw  in  the  road." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  and  don't  you  see 
Johnny  running  about  with  his  pole  ?  " 

"  Where  ? "  said  Lucy  ;  "  which  is  Johnny  ?  " 

"  That's  he,"  said  Royal,  "  running  about. 
Now  he's  gone  down  to  a  sandy  place  upon  the 
shore.  See,  he's  reaching  out  with  his  pole,  as  far 
as  he  can,  upon  the  water  ;  he  is  trying  to  reach  a 
little  piece  of  board  that  is  floating  by.  There, 
he  has  got  it,  and  is  pulling  it  in." 

"  I  am  glad  George  got  him  a  pole,"  said  Miss 
Anne. 

"  So  am  I,"  said  Royal. 

"  And  so  am  I,"  said  Lucy. 

"  It  seems  George  is  happier  himself,  if  Johnny 
has  something  to  make  him  happy  too ;  but  the 
other  boy  isn't." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  he  isn't  ? "  asked 
Luc) . 

"  Why,  he  did  not  want  George  to  stop.  He 
had  got  a  pole  himself,  and  he  did  not  care  any 
thing  about  Johnny's  having  one  " 


JOHNNY.  127 

-  Vres,"  said  Royal,  "  so  I  think." 

"  Some  children,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  when 
tney  have  anything  that  they  like,  always  want 
their  brothers  and  sisters  to  have  something  too , 
and  George  seems  to  be  one  of  them. 

"  And  that  makes  me  think,"  continued  Miss 
Anne,  "  of  the  story  of  the  horse  and  the  picture- 
hook." 

"  What  is  the  story  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"  Why,  it  is  a  story  of  a  little  wooden  horse, 
which,  instead  of  spoiling  a  picture-book,  as  the 
dog  did,  made  it  much  more  valuable." 

"  Tell  us  all  about  it,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Very  well,  I  will,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  There 
was  once  a  boy  named  David.  His  uncle  sent 
him,  one  new  year's  day,  a  picture-book.  There 
was  a  picture  on  every  page,  and  two  on  the  cover. 
He  liked  his  picture-book  very  much  indeed  ;  but 
one  thing  diminished  the  pleasure  he  took  in  look- 
ing at  it." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  diminished  1 "  asked 
I  <ucy. 

"  Why,  made  it  smaller,"  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  and  the  circumstance 
which  made  his  pleasure  in  the  picture-book  less 
than  it  otherwise  would  have  been,  was,  that  his 
little  brother  Georgie  had  no  new  book  or  play 


128  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

thing.  David  showed  Georgie  his  book,  and 
sometimes  let  him  have  it  by  himself;  but  he 
would  have  liked  it  better,  if  Georgie  had  had  » 
present  of  his  own." 

{;  And  now  about  the  horse  ?  "  said  Royal 

"'Well,  —  that  evening,  when  these  boys'  fa 
ther  came  home  to  supper,  he  brought  something 
tied  up  in  a  paper,  which,  he  said,  was  for  Georgie. 
David  took  it,  and  ran  to  find  Georgie,  —  hoping 
that  it  was  some  present  for  him.  Georgie  opened 
it,  and  found  that  it  was  a  handsome  wooden 
horse,  on  wheels,  —  with  a  long  red  cord  for  a 
bridle,  to  draw  him  about  by.  David  was  very 
much  pleased  at  this ;  and  now  he  could  go  and 
sit  down  upon  his  cricket,  and  look  at  his  book, 
with  a  great  deal  more  pleasure ;  for  Georgie  had 
a  present  too.  So,  you  see,  the  horse  made 
the  picture-book  more  valuable." 

The  children  sat  still  a  short  time,  thinking  of 
what  Miss  Anne  had  said ;  and  at  length  Royal 
raid, 

"Are  these  stories  which  you  have  been  telririg 
tis  true,  Miss  Anne?  " 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  quietly. 

"  Then  you  made  them  up." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  What  for  ?  "  said  Lucy. 


JOHNNY.  129 

'Why,  to  show  you  and  Royal,"  said  Miss 
Anne,  "  tne  difference  between  a  monopolizing 
and  covetous  spirit,  and  one  of  generosity  aud  be- 
nevolence, which  leads  us  to  wish  to  have  other? 
possess  and  enjoy,  as  well  as  ourselves." 

Royal,  pretty  soon  after  this,  proposed  thkt  he 
and  Lucy  should  find  some  sticks  upon  the  little 
island,  where  they  were  sitting,  and  threw  them 
upon  the  water,  and  see  them  sail  down  ;  and 
they  did  accordingly  amuse  themselves  in  this 
way  for  some  time.  Lucy  was  very  much  amused 
to  see  the  sticks  shoot  along  the  rapids,  and  dive 
down  the  little  cascades  among  the  rocks.  Miss 
Anne  helped  them  throw  in  one  piece  of  plank, 
which  had  drifted  down  from  the  mill,  and  which 
was  too  large  and  heavy  for  them  to  lift  alone. 
They  watched  this  for  some  time,  as  it  floated 
away  far  down  the  stream. 

At  last,  it  was  time  to  go  home ;  and  they  all 
went  back,  very  carefully,  over  the  stones,  until 
they  got  back  to  the  shore ;  and  then  they  walked 
home  by  a  new  way,  over  a  hill,  where  they  had 
a  beautiful  prospect. 

That  night,  just  before  sundown,  when  Royal 
and  Lucy  went  out  to  see  their  chickens,  Royal 
told  Lucy  that  she  might  have  the  little  black 
chicken  ana  two  others  for  her  own. 


130 

u  Well/'  said  Lucy,  clapping  her  hands,  "  and 
will  you  let  me  keep  them  in  your  coop  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Royal ;  "or  I  will  let  you 
Dwn  the  coop  with  me ;  —  you  shall  have  a  share 
in  the  coop,  in  proportion  to  your  share  of  the 
chickens." 

"  In  proportion  ?  "  said  Lucy  ;  "  what  does  that 
mean  ? " 

"  Why,  just  as  much  of  the  coop  as  you  have 
of  the  chickens,"  said  Royal. 

"Well,"  said  Lucy,  "how  much  of  the  coop 
will  it  be,  for  three  chickens  ?  " 

"  O,  I  don't  know,"  said  Royal. 

"  So  much  ? "  said  Lucy,  putting  her  hand 
upon  the  side  of  the  coop,  so  as  to  mark  off  a 
small  portion  of  it. 

"  O,  I  don't  mean,"  said  Royal,  "  to  divide  it. 
We  will  own  it  all  together,  in  partnership ;  only 
you  shall  have  a  small  share,  just  in  proportion  to 
your  chickens." 

Lucy  did  not  understand  this  very  well,  but  she 
thought  more  about  the  chickens  than  about  the 
coop  ;  and  she  began  to  look  at  them,  one  by 
one,  carefully,  to  consider  which  she  should  have 
for  hers.  She  chose  two,  besides  the  black  one  ; 
and  she  said  that  she  meant  to  get  Miss  Anne 
to  nanw  them  for  her. 


JOHNNT. 


131 


Royal  took  a  great  deal  of  pleasure,  after  this, 
every  time  that  he  came  out  to  see  his  chickens, 
in  observing  how  much  interest  Lucy  took,  everj 
day,  in  coming  to  see  her  chickens,  and  how  much 
enjoy?  aent  it  afforded  her  to  be  admitted  thus  to  z 
*hare  in  the  property. 


1&2  lucy's  conversations. 

CONVERSATION   XI 
GETTING    LOST. 

One  afternoon,  a  short  time  after  dinner,  Lucy 
♦vas  sitting  upon  a  seat  under  a  trellis,  near  the 
door  which  led  towards  the  garden,  when  her 
mother  came  out. 

"  Lucy,"  said  she,  "  1  have  got  some  rather  bad 
news  for  you." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"lam  rather  afraid  to  tell  you,  for  fear  it  will 
make  you  cry." 

"  O  no,  mother ;  I  shall  not  cry,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Well,"  said  her  mother,  "  we  shall  see.  The 
news  is,  that  we  are  all  going  away  this  afternoon, 
and  are  going  to  leave  you  at  home." 

"  What,  all  alone  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"Not  quite  alone;  for  Joanna  will  be  here," 
said  her  mother. 

"  Where  are  you  going  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  We  are  going  away,  to  ride." 

"  Why  can't  I  go  too  ?  "  said  Lucy. 


GETTING    L.OST. 


133 


"  I  can    explain    the   reason  better    when  we 
come  back,"  answered  her  mother. 

Lucy  did  not  cry  ;  though  she  found  it  very 
hard  to  refrain.  Her  father  and  mother,  and  Miss 
Anne  and  Royal,  were  all  going,  and  she  had  to 
remain  at  home.  They  were  going,  too,  in  a  kind 
of  barouche ;  and  when  it  drove  up  to  the  door, 
Lucy  thought  there  would  be  plenty  of  room  for 
her.  She  found  it  hard  to  submit ;  but  submission 
was  made  somewhat  easier  by  her  mother's  not 
giving  her  any  reasons.  When  a  mother  gives 
a  girl  reasons  why  she  cannot  have  something 
which  she  is  very  strongly  interested  in,  they  sel- 
dom satisfy  her,  for  she  is  not  in  a  state  of  mind 
to  consider  them  impartially.  It  only  sets  her  to 
attempting  to  answer  the  reasons,  and  thus  to  agi- 
tate and  disturb  her  mind  more  than  is  necessary 
It  is  therefore  generally  best  not  to  explain  the 
reasons  until  afterwards,  when  the  mind  of  the 
child  is  in  a  better  condition  to  feel  their  force. 

After  the  barouche  drove  away,  Lucy  went  out 
into  the  kitchen  to  see  Joanna ;  and  she  asked 
Joanna  what  she  should  do.  Joanna  advised  her 
to  go  out  and  play  in  the  yard  until  she  had  got 
her  work  done,  and  then  to  come  in  and  sit  with 
her  Lucy  did  so.  She  playeo  aboit  in  the 
12 


134 


grass  until  Joanna  called  from  the  window,  and 
told  her  that  she  was  ready. 

Then  Lucy  came  in.  She  found  the  kitchen 
all  arranged  in  good  order,  and  Joanna  was  just 
sitting  down  before  a  little  table,  at  the  window, 
to  sew.  Lucy  got  her  basket  of  blocks,  and  began 
to  build  houses  in  the  middle  of  the  floor. 

"Joanna,"  said  she,  after  a  little  while,  "I 
wish  you  would  tell  me  something  more  about 
when  you  were  a  farmer's  daughter.'' 

"  Why,  I  am  a  farmer's  daughter  now,"  said 
Joanna. 

"  But  I  mean  when  you  were  a  little  girl,  and 
lived  among  the  stumps,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Well,"  said  Joanna,  —  "  what  shall  I  tell  you 
about  ?  Let  me  see.  —  O,  I'll  tell  you  how  I  got 
lost  in  the  woods,  one  day." 

"  Ah,  yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  should  like  to  hear 
about  that  very  much  indeed." 

"  One  day,"  said  Joanna,  "  my  father  was  go- 
ing a  fishing,  and  my  brother  was  going  with 
him." 

"  The  same  one  that  made  your  hen-coop  ? " 
asked  Lucy. 

"  No,  he  was  a  bigger  one  than  that.  I  asked 
my  father  to  let  me  go  too.  At  first  he  said  I  was 
too  little ;  but  afterwards  he  said  I  might  go." 


GETTING    LOST.  136 

u  How  big  were  you  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"I  was  just  about  your  age,"  said  Joaina 
"My  mother  said  I  could  not  possibly  walk  sc 
far ;  but  father  said  I  should  not  have  to  walk  bu 
a  little  way,  for  he  was  going  down  the  brook  in 
a  boat. 

"  So  father  concluded  to  let  me  go,  and  we 
started  off,  —  all  three  together.  We  went  across 
the  road,  and  then  struck  right  into  the  woods  " 

"  Struck  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes ;  that  is,  we  went  right  in." 

"  O,"  said  Lucy. 

"  We  walked  along  by  a  sort  of  cart-road  a  lit- 
tle while,  until  we  came  to  a  place  where  I  just 
began  to  see  some  water  through  the  trees.  Fa- 
ther said  it  was  the  brook. 

"  When  we  got  down  to  it,  I  found  that  it  was 
a  pretty  wide  brook ;  and  the  water  was  deep  and 
pretty  still.  There  was  a  boat  in  the  brook.  The 
boat  was  tied  to  a  tree  upon  the  shore ;  my  brother 
got  in,  and  then  my  father  put  me  in ;  and  after- 
wards he  untied  the  boat,  and  threw  the  rope  in, 
and  then  got  in  himself.  Then  there  were  three 
of  us  in." 

?  Wasn't  you  afraid  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"Yes,  I  was  afraid  that  the  boat  would  tip 
over;  but  father  said  that  it  wouldn't.     But  he 


136  LUCY1S    CONVERSATIONS. 

said  that  I  must  sit  still,  if  I  didn't  want  the  boat 
to  upset.  So  I  sat  as  still  as  I  could,  and  watched 
the  trees  and  bushes,  moving  upon  the  shore." 

"  I  wish  I  could  go  and  sail  in  a  boat,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  It  is  very  pleasant,"  said  Joanna,  "  when  the 
water  is  smooth  and  still.  The  branches  of  the 
trees  hung  over  the  water  where  we  were  sailing 
along,  and  one  time  we  sailed  under  them,  and 
my  brother  broke  me  off  a  long  willow  stick. 

"  After  a  time,  we  came  to  the  end  of  the  brook, 
where  it  emptied  into  the  pond." 

"  Emptied  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes ;  that  is,  where  it  came  out  into  the  pond." 

"  Do  brooks  run  into  ponds  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Not  always,"  said  Joanna ;  "  sometimes  they 
run  into  other  larger  brooks,  and  sometimes  into 
rivers,  and  sometimes  into  ponds.  This  brook  ran 
into  a  pond ;  and  when  we  came  to  the  end  of 
the  brook,  our  boat  sailed  right  out  into  a  pond. 
This  pond  was  the  place  where  they  were  going 
to  catch  the  fishes." 

"Why  didn't  they  catch  the  fishes  in  tine 
brook  ?  "   asked   Lucy. 

"I  believe  they  could  not  catch  such  large 
fishes  there,"  said  Joanna.  "  At  any  rate,  they 
went  out  into  the  pond.     There  was  a  point  oi 


GETTING    LOST.  137 

.and  at  the  mouth  of  the  brook,  and  when  my 
father  had  got  out  around  this  point,  he  began 
to  fish." 

"  Did  he  catch  any  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  He  caught  one,  and  my  brother  caught  one  ; 
and  after  that,  they  could  not  catch  any  more  for 
some  time.  At  last,  my  father  said  it  was  not 
worth  while  for  them  both  to  stay  there  all  the 
afternoon,  and  that  my  brother  might  go  back  home 
oy  a  road  across  through  the  woods,  and  he  would 
stay  and  see  what  luck  he  should  have  himself. 
He  said,  too,  that  I  might  stay  with  him,  if  J 
chose." 

"  And  did  you  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,"  replied  Joanna.  "  At  first,  I  thought  1 
should  like  to  stay  with  father ;  but  then  I  had  al- 
ready become  pretty  tired  of  sitting  in  the  boat 
with  nothing  to  do,  and  so  I  concluded  to  go  with 
my  brother.  Besides,  I  wanted  to  see  what  sort 
of  a  road  it  was  across  through  the  woods. 

"  My  father  then  took  his  line  in,  and  paddled 
the  boat  to  the  shore,  to  let  me  and  my  brother 
get  out.  Then  he  went  back  to  his  fishing-ground 
again,  and  let  down  his  line.  As  for  my  brother 
and  myself,  we  went  along  a  little  way,  until  we 
came  to  a  large  pine-tree,  which  stood  not  very 
far  from  the   shore  of  the   pond ;  and  there  we 


138 


turned  into   the    woods,  and   walked   along   to 
gether." 

"  And  was  it  in  these  woods  that  ycu  got  lost  ?  * 
said  Lucy. 

"  Not  exactly,"  said  Joanna  ;  "  but  I  will  tell 
you  all  about  it.  We  went  along  a  little  way 
without  any  difficulty,  but  presently  we  came  to 
a  bog." 

"  What  is  a  bog  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  it  is  a  low,  wet  place,  where  wild  grass 
and  rushes  grow.  The  path  led  through  this  bog, 
and  brother  said  he  did  not  think  that  I  could  get 
along  very  well." 

"  I  should  not  think  that  he  could  get  along 
himself,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Joanna,  "  he  could  get  along 
by  stepping  upon  the  stones  and  hummocks  of 
grass ;  and  he  tried  to  carry  me,  at  first ;  but  he 
soon  found  that  it  would  be  a  great  deal  of  work, 
and  he  said  that  I  had  better  go  back  to  my  fa- 
ther, and  get  into  the  boat,  and  stay  with  him. 

"  I  said,  '  Well ; '  and  he  carried  me  back  as 
far  as  to  hard  ground  ;  and  then  he  told  me  to  go 
back  by  the  path,  until  I  came  to  the  pine-tree ; 
and  then  he  said  I  should  only  have  to  follow  the 
shore  of  the  pond,  a  short  distance,  when  I  should 
come  in  sight  of  father's  boat." 


GETTING    LOST.  139 

"  Yes,  but  how  could  you  get  into  the  boat/' 
baid  Lucy,  :(  without  getting  wet,  when  it  was  so 
far  from  the  shore  ?  " 

"  O,  I  could  call  to  my  father,  and  he  would 
come  to  the  shore  and  take  me  in,"  said  Joanna. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  tell  on." 

"  I  walked  along  the  path,  without  any  trou- 
ble, until  I  came  to  the  great  pine-tree,  where  I 
saw  a  woodpecker." 

"  A  woodpecker  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes ;  that  is,  a  kind  of  a  bird  which  pecks 
the  bark  and  wood  of  old  trees,  to  get  bugs 
and  worms  out  of  it,  to  eat." 

"I  should  not  think  that  bu^s  and  worms 
would  be  good  to  eat,"  said  Lucy. 

"  They  are  good  for  woodpeckers,"  said  Joan- 
na. "This  woodpecker  was  standing  upon  the 
side  of  the  great  pine-tree,  clinging  to  the  bark. 
He  has  sharp  claws,  and  can  cling  to  the  bark 
upon  the  side  of  a  tree.  I  looked  at  him  a  ruin- 
ate, and  then  went  on. 

"I  followed  the  shore  of  the  pond,  until  I 
•^ame  to  the  place  where  we  had  left  my  father 
fishing ;  but  when  I  looked  out  upon  the  water 
there,  the  boat  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  I  was 
very  much  frightened." 

"  Where  was  he  gone  ?  "  said  Lucy. 


140  lucy's  conversations. 

"  I  did  not  know  then,"  said  Joanna ;  "  but  1 
learned  afterwards  that  he  had  found  that  he 
could  not  catch  any  fishes  there,  and  so  he  con~ 
eluded  to  go  up  the  brook  again,  and  see  if  he 
could  not  catch  any  there.  I  did  not  know  this 
then,  and  I  could  not  think  what  had  become 
of  him.  I  was  frightened.  I  did  not  see  how 
I  could  ever  find  my  way  home  again.  What 
do  you  think  I  did  first  ?  " 

" I  don't  know,"  said  Lucy.     "  What  was  it  ? " 

"  I  called  out,  Father !  Father !  Father ! 
as  loud  as  I  could  call ;  and  then  I  listened  for 
a  reply,  —  but  I  could  not  hear  any." 

"  Then  what  did  you  do  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  I  began  to  consider  whether  I  could 
not  go  home  the  way  that  my  brother  had  gone, 
by  walking  along  through  the  mud,  even  if  it 
was  deep.  1  thought  I  had  better  get  my  feet 
wet  and  muddy  than  stay  there  in  the  woods 
and  starve." 

"  Well,  d.d  you  go  that  way  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Joanna  ;  "  on  thinking  more  of  it, 
I  was  afraid  to  go.  I  did  not  know  but  that  the 
mud  would  be  deep  enough  somewhere  to  drown 
me ;  and  then,  besides,  I  did  not  know  that  1 
could  find  the  way,  any  farther  than  I  had  gone 
with  my  brother 


GETTING    LOST.  143 

"The  next  plan  I  thought  of,  was  to  follow 
the  shore  of  the  brook  up.  You  remember  that 
we  came  down  the  brook,  in  the  boat ;  and  of 
course  I  knew  that,  if  I  went  up  the  brook,  either 
on  the  water  or  close  to  it,  upon  the  shore,  I 
should  be  going  back  towards  home.  I  tried 
this  way,  but  I  found  that  I  could  not  get  along." 

"  Why  couldn't  you  get  along  ?  "  asked  Lucy 

kC  Because,"  said  Joanna,  "  the  trees  and  bush 
es  were  so  thick,  and  the  ground  was  so  wot 
and  swampy,  in  some  places,  that  I  couldn't  get 
through.  Then  I  came  back,  and  sat  down 
upon  a  log,  near  the  shore  of  the  pond,  and  be- 
gan to  cry." 

"  And  didn't  you  ever  get  home  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Joanna,  laughing,  "  or  else 
how  could  I  be  here  now  to  tell  the  story  ?  " 

c<  O  !  —  yes,"  said  Lucy.  "  But  how  did 
you  get  home  ?  " 

"  Why,  pretty  soon  I  thoug'it  that  the  Dest 
plan  would  be  for  me  to  stay  j.ist  where  I  was, 
for  I  thought  that  as  soon  as  my  father  and 
brother  should  both  get  home,  and  find  that  I  was 
not  there,  they  would  come  after  me;  and  if 
they  came  after  me,  1  knew  they  would  come, 
first  of  all,  to  the  place  where  my  brother  had 
told  me  tc  go,  near  the  mouth  of  the  brook.     Sc 


144 


I  concluded  that  I  would  wait  patiently  there 
until  they  came. 

"  I  waited  all  the  afternoon,  and  they  did  no! 
^ome ;  and  at  last  the  sun  went  down  and  still  1 
was  there  alone." 

f  •  Why  did  not  they  come  for  you  sooner  ? " 
asked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  the  reason  was,  that  my  father  did 
not  get  home  until  night.  When  he  went  up 
the  brook,  he  found  a  place  where  he  could 
catch  fishes  quite  fast ;  and  so  he  staid  there  all 
the  afternoon.  He  thought  I  was  safe  at  home 
with  my  brother.  And  my  brother,  who  was 
at  home  all  this  time,  thought  that  I  was  safe  in 
the  boat  with  my  father. 

"  When  it  began  to  grow  dark,  I  thought  I 
should  have  to  stay  in  the  woods  all  night ;  but 
then  I  thought  that,  at  any  rate,  they  would 
come  for  me  the  next  morning ;  and  I  began  to 
look  around  for  a  good  place  to  lie  down  and 
go  to  sleep.  But,  just  then,  I  heard  a  noise, 
like  a  noise  in  the  water,  through  the  woods ; 
and  1  looked  that  way,  and  saw  a  light  glancing 
along  through  the  trees.  It  was  my  father  and 
brother  coming  down  the  brook  in  the  boat.  I 
called  out  to  them  as  loud  as  I  could,  and  they 
heard  me  and  answered.     They  came  round  the 


GETTING    LOST.  145 

point  of  land,  anil  then  up  to  the  shore  where  I 
was,  and  took  me  in.     And  so  I  got  home." 

Here  Lucy  drew  a  long  breath,  very  much 
relieved  to  find  that  Joanna  was  safe  home  again. 

"  What  did  you  do  when  you  got  home  ? M 
said  she. 

'<  I  don't  recollect  very  well,"  said  Joanna, 
"  only  I  remember  that  my  mother  let  me  sit  up 
pretty  late,  and  eat  some  of  father's  fishes,  which 
she  fried  for  supper." 

When  Miss  Anne  came  home  that  night,  Lucy 
told  her  the  story  which  Joanna  had  related  to 
her.  She  told  her  while  Miss  Anne  was  putting 
her  to  bed.  Lucy  said  that  she  should  like  to 
be  lost  in  the  woods. 

"  O  no,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  you  would  not 
like  the  reality.  It  makes  an  interesting  story 
to  relate,  but  the  thing  itself  must  be  very  dis- 
tressing." 

"  Well,  at  any  rate,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  should  like 
to  sail  under  the  trees  in  a  boat." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  would  be  plea* 
ant,  no  doubt." 

•*  And  to  see  a  woodpecker,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  v^ry  likely."  said  Miss  Anne 
13 


146  lucy's  conversations. 


CONVERSATION  XII. 

LUCY'S  SCHOLAR. 

After  this,  Lucy  often  "  played  boat"  for 
amusement.  She  built  her  boat  of  chairs  and 
crickets,  and  had  the  hearth  brush  for  a  paddle. 

One  evening,  just  after  tea,  when  she  was 
playing  in  this  way,  in  the  parlor,  Royal  looking 
on,  she  said  to  Miss  Anne, 

44 1  wish  we  had  a  real  boat." 

"  A  real  boat,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  would  do  no 
good,  unless  you  had  a  place  to  sail  it  in." 

"  Couldn't  we  sail  it  in  our  brook?"  asked 
Lucy. 

"  No  indeed,"  said  Royal ;  "  there  is  scarcely 
water  enough  in  our  brook  to  float  my  turtle." 

uO  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  "it  is  a  great  deal 
too  deep  for  your  turtle." 

u  In  some  places,"  said  Miss  Anne  ;  "  but  to 
sail  a  boat,  you  must  have  a  long  extent  of  deep 
water.  I  should  think,  however,  that  you  might 
have  a  better  boat  than  3011  can  make  of  chairs 
and  crickets." 


lucy's  scholar.  147 

"  How  could  we  make  it?"  said  Lucy. 

"Why,  Royal  might  find  a  long  box,  out 
behind  the  barn ;  or  two  common  boxes,  and 
put  them  together,  end  to  end,  out  in  the  yard. 
You  might  put  two  boards  across  for  seats,  and 
have  poles  for  paddles." 

"  But  it  would  not  sail  any,"  said  Royal. 

' '  If  you  want  it  to  sail,  you  must  put  some 
rollers  under  it,  and  then  you  can  push  it  along 
a  little." 

Royal  said  that  that  was  an  excellent  plan, 
and  that  he  meant  to  go  and  make  such  a  boat 
the  very  next  day.  He  said  he  did  not  believe 
but  that  he  could  put  a  mast  in,  and  hoist  up  a 
sail ;'  or  at  least  a  flag  or  a  streamer. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  we  will." 

"  I  mean  to  go  now  and  see  if  there  is  a  box," 
said  Royal ;  "  it  is  just  light  enough." 

So  Ro3ral  went  out  of  the  room. 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  how  much  does  a 
real  boat  cost  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  exactly,  how  much,"  said  Miss 
Anne. 

"  I  don't  suppose  I  should  have  money 
enough  to  buj-  a  boat,  even  if  we  had  a  deep 
brook  to  sail  it  in,"  adcled  Lucy. 


148 


u  I  don't  know,"  said  Miss  Ad  ne ;  "  how 
much  money  have  you  got  ? " 

"  I  have  not  got  but  a  little ;  it  is  a  dollar,  or 
else  a  half  a  dollar ;  or  a  sixpence ;  I  don't  know 
exactly.     Royal  has  got  more  than  I." 

Miss  Anne  merely  said,  ''Has  he?"  and  then 
the  conversation  dropper7  She  had  just  taken 
her  seat  at  her  work  table,  and  begat*  to  be  busy. 

"  I  wish  1  knew  of  some  way  that  I  could  earn 
money, "  said  Lucy.  "  Do  you  know  of  any 
way,  Miss  Anne  ?  " 

"  What  did  you  say  ?  "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  Don't  you  know  of  some  way  that  I  could 
earn  money  ? " 

"  Why,  I  don't  know ;  earning  money  is 
rather  hard  work,  as  I've  heard  people  say.  I 
believe  young  ladies  generally  earn  money  by 
teaching." 

"  Well."  said  Lucy,  "  if  I  could  only  get  any 
scholars." 

"  Why,  you  must  be  your  own  scholar ;  teach 
yourself  to  read.  Come,  I  think  that  will  be  an 
excellent  plan." 

u  Can  I  earn  any  money  so  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  I  should  think  so.  It  would  take  you 
three  months,  at  a  school,  to  learn  yoi  r  letteiss 


LUCYfS    SCHOLAR.  149 

and  three  months  is  twelve  weeks.  Now,  I  sup 
pose  that  your  father  would  have  to  pay  ahour 
sixpence  a  week  for  you  to  go  to  school,  ant 
that  would  make  twelve  sixpences ;  and  I  pre- 
sume he  would  be  willing  to  give  you  as  much 
as  eight  of  the  sixpences,  if  you  would  learn  to 
lead  yourself." 

"  Why  not  all  the  twelve  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Because  you  would  not  do  quite  all  yourself. 
Somebody  would  have  to  answer  your  questions, 
and  show  you  what  the  letters  were,  at  first ;  so 
that  you  could  not  do  it  all  yourself.  1  should 
think  that  perhaps  you  might  earn  eight  out  of 
the  twelve  sixpences.  That  would  be  one  six- 
pence for  every  three  letters." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  mean  to  try." 

"  If  you  think  you  would  like  to  try,"  said 
Miss  Anne,  "  I'll  form  a  plan  for  you,  so  that  you 
can  begin  to-morrow." 

Lucy  said  she  should  like  to  tiy,  and  accord- 
ingly Miss  Anne  reflected  upon  the  subject  that 
evening,  endeavoring  to  contrive  some  plan  by 
which  Lucy  might  sit  down  by  herself  and  study 
her  letters,  half  an  hour  every  day,  until  she  had 
learned  them  all.  She  thought  of  a  plan  which 
she  hoped  might  answer  pretty  well ;  and  the  lext 
13* 


150  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

morning  she  made   preparations   for  carrying    l 
into  execution. 

First  she  got  Lucy's  little  tab-It,  and  set  it  .new 
one  of  the  windows  in  her  room ;  siie  also  pui 
her  little  chair  before  it.  Then  she  got  a  large 
flat  pin-cushion,  and  put  upon  the  table. 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne !  "  said  Lucy ,  who  stood 
by  looking  at  all  these  preparations,  "  what  is  the 
pin-cushion  for  ?  I  never  heard  of  studying  with 
a  pin-cushion." 

"  You'll  see,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "lam  going 
to  have  you  learn  to  read  on  the  pin-cushion 
method" 

Then  Miss  Anne  opened  an  ebony  box,  which 
she  had  upon  her  table,  and  took  out  a  very 
large  pin,  and  also  a  stick  of  red  sealing-wax. 
She  carried  these  into  the  kitchen,  Lucy  follow- 
ing her;  then  she  lighted  a  lamp,  and  melted 
some  of  the  sealing-wax,  and  stuck  it  upon  the 
head  of  the  pin,  turning  it  round  and  round,  and 
then  warming  it,  and  pressing  it  with  her  fingers, 
until  at  last  she  had  made  a  little  ball  of  sealing- 
wax,  about  as  big  as  a  pea,  which  covered  and 
concealed  the  original  head  of  the  pin. 

"  There,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  is  your 
pointer" 


lucy's  scholar  15 1 

"  Let  me  take  it,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy.  "  I 
(vant  to  take  it." 

Miss  Anne  handed  the  pointer  to  Lucy,  ind 
she  looked  at  it  carefully,  as  she  walked  slowly 
along  back  into  Miss  Anne's  room.  When  she  got 
there,  Miss  Anne  took  it,  and  stuck  it  into  the 
pin-cushion,  and  requested  Lucy  not  to  touch  it. 

Then  she  went  and  found  some  of  the  scattered 
leaves  of  an  old  picture-book,  which  had  once 
been  Royal's,  but  was  now  nearly  worn  out  and 
almost  destroyed.  She  took  one  of  these  leaves, 
and  spread  it  out  upon  the  pin-cushion.  Then 
she  seated  Lucy  before  it,  and  put  the  pointer  in 
her  hands. 

"  Now,  Lucy,"  said  she,  "  what  letter  do  you 
know?" 

"  I  know  o  the  best,"  said  Lucy. 

Then  Miss  Anne  pointed  to  the  upper  line, 
and  in  the  third  word  there  was  an  o. 

"  There,"  said  she  — "  prick  it  with  your 
pointer." 

Lucy  pricked  through  the  o  with  great  force, 
30  as  to  sink  the  pin  for  half  its  length  into  the 
pin -cushion. 

"  That  will  do,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  Now 
look  along  until  you  find  another  o." 

Lucy  found  one  about  the  middle  of  the  line 


152  LUCY  5    CONVERSATIONS. 

"  Now,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  prick  him  too,  — 
only  do  it  gently,  so  as  just  to  put  the  point  in  a 
little  way ;  and  when  you  are  doing  it,  say,  o." 

Lucy  did  so.  She  pres.jed  the  point  of  the 
pin  through  the  letter,  and  at  the  instant  that 
it  went  through,  she  said,  o. 

"  Now,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  the  plan  is  for 
you  to  go  on  in  that  way.  Look  all  through 
that  line,  and  prick  every  o  you  can  find.  Then 
take  the  next  line,  and  the  next,  and  so  on 
regularly  through  the  whole,  and  prick  every  o 
After  you  have  done,  put  the  pointer  into  the 
pin-cushion,  and  the  pin-cushion  into  your  drawer. 
Then  set  your  chair  back,  and  bring  the  paper 
to  me." 

Lucy  was  very  ready  to  go  on  with  this  work. 
In  fact,  while  Miss  Anne  was  speaking,  she  had 
found  another  o,  and  was  just  going  to  prick ;  but 
Miss  Anne  stopped  her,  and  told  her  that  it  was 
not  rulable  to  begin  to  obey  her  orders  until  she 
had  finished  giving  them. 

At  last,  Miss  Anne  went  out  of  the  room,  and 
left  Lucy  at  her  work.  Lucy  pricked  away, 
very  industriously,  for  nearly  half  an  hour.  She 
had  then  got  almost  to  the  bottom  of  the  page. 
There  she  found  a  capital  o,  thus,  O,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  senteme;    and   she   did  rot  know 


LUCY'S    SCHOLAR.  J  63 

whether  she  ought  to  prick  such  a  one  as  that 
or  not.  While  she  was  considering,  she  heard 
Royal's  voice  in  the  entry  way,  calling  her. 

Lucy  answerea,  m  a  loud  voice, 

u  Here  I  am,  Royal,  —  here,  in  Miss  Anne's 
room." 

Royal  advanced  to  the  door  of  Miss  Anne's 
room,  and  looked  in.  He  had  his  cap  on,  and 
seemed  to  be  in  haste. 

"  Come,  Lucy,"  said  he,  "  let's  go  and  make 
our  boat." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  just  wait  till  I  have 
pricked  two  more  lines." 

"  Pricked,"  said  Royal,  —  "  what  do  you  mean 
by  pricking  ? " 

Royal  came  up  to  the  little  table  where  Lucy 
was  at  work,  and  looked  over  her  shoulder,  while 
she  explained  to  him  what  she  was  doing. 

"  I  am  going  to  find  every  o  there  is  on 
this  page,  and  prick  them  all.  I  have  pricked 
down  to  here  already,  and  now  I  have  got  only 
two  lines  more  to  prick,  and  then  I  shall  come 
out." 

"  O,  come  out  now,"  said  Royal,  "  and  let 
die  pricking  go." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  must  wait  and  finish 
iny  work." 


154  lucy's  conversations. 

"  That  isn't  work,'*  said  Royal ;  "  it  is  notim? 
nut  play.     It  does  not  do  any  good." 

"  Yes  it  does,"  said  Lucy ;  "I  am  doing  it  to 
earn  money." 

"  To  earn  money  ! "  repeated  Royal ;  and  he 
began  to  laugh  aloud  at  the  idea  of  earning 
money  in  any  such  way  as  that. 

Lucy  explained  to  Royal  that  this  was  a 
way  which  Miss  Anne  had  contrived  for  her  to 
learn  her  letters  herself,  without  troubling  other 
people,  and  that  she  had  told  her  that  she  should 
have  sixpence  for  every  three  letters. 

Royal  then  perceived  that  the  plan  was  at 
least  worthy  of  being  treated  with  more  respect 
than  he  had  at  first  supposed  ;  —  but  then  h* 
told  Lucy  that,  in  his  opinion,  she  was  beginning 
wrong. 

"  You  ought  to  begin  with  some  letter  that 
you  don't  know,  Lucy,"  said  he ;  "  you  know  o 
now,  as  well  as  T  know  my  own  thumb ;  and 
of  course  it's  of  no  use  to  prick  it." 

Lucy  did  not  know  what  to  reply  to  this  rea- 
soning,—  only  that  Miss  Anne  had  told  her  to 
prick  o,  and  Miss  Anne  knew  best.    . 

"  At  any  rate,"  said  Royal,  " )  ou  can  finish 
t  another  time ;  so  come  out  with  me  now, 
and  help  me  get  out  the  boxes  for  our  boat.' 


LUU1   b    SCHOLAR.  155 

Lucy  concluded  that  she  would  go  out  a  few 
minutes  with  Royal,  and  then  come  back  again, 
and  finish  her  work.  They  accordingly  weni 
out  together. 

They  found  one  long  box,  which  Royal  said 
would  do  very  well  indeed  for  a  boat.  The  box 
was  made  to  pack  bedsteads  in,  and  of  course 
it  was  more  than  six  feet  long ;  but  it  was  nar- 
row, like  a  boat,  and  Royal  said  it  was  just  the 
thing. 

The  children  got  this  down  upon  a  place 
where  the  ground  was  smooth  and  hard  ;  and 
Lucy  got  so  much  interested  in  playing  boat, 
that  she  entirely  forgot  her  pricking  for  two 
hours ;  and  then  the  first  bell  rang,  to  call  them 
in  to  dinner. 

The  first  bell  always  rang  ten  minutes  before 
ihe  second  bell.  This  was  to  give  Royal  and 
Lucy  time  to  come  in  and  get  ready.  Lucy 
tnought  that  she  should  just  have  time  to  finish 
die  two  lines,  and  she  ran  in  to  Miss  Anne's 
room  to  sit  right  down  to  her  work.  To  her 
surprise,  however,  as  soon  as  she  got  in,  she  saw 
that  her  chair  was  not  before  the  little  table,  bui 
uad  been  set  back ;  and  the  pin-cushion,  pointer, 
md  paper,  had  all  entirely  disappeared. 


156  LUCY?S    CONVERSATIONS. 

Lucy  went  into  the  parlor,  and  found  Miss 
iVnne  placing  the  chairs  around  the  dinner  table, 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  she,  in  a  tone  of  complaint, 
"  somebody  has  taken  away  all  my  things." 

"  That  is  some  of  my  mischief,  I  suppose," 
*aid  Miss  Anne. 

"  Did  you  take  them  away  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  put  them  away,"  replied  Miss  Anne.  "  1 
went  into  my  room,  about  an  hour  after  I  left 
you  there,  and  found  that  you  had  gone  away 
to  play,  and  had  left  your  work  all  out  upon  the 
table ;  and  so  I  had  to  put  it  away." 

"  Why,  I  was  coming  right  back  again,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  And  did  you  come  right  back  ? " 

"  Why,  no,"  said  Lucy.  "  Royal  wanted  me 
to  stay  with  him  so  much  ! " 

"  I  thought  you'd  find  it  rather  hard  to  earn 
money.  You  ought  to  have  waited  until  you 
had  finished  your  work,  and  then  you  could  have 
gone  out  to  play.  —  But  I  don't  mean  that  you 
did  wrong.  You  had  a  right,  if  you  chose,  to 
give  up  the  plan  of  earning  money,  and  have 
your  play  instead." 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne,  I  almost  finished  the.  work. 
I  pricked  all  but  two  lines." 


157 


?  Yes,  but  then  you  left  the  work  of  putting 
the  things  away  to  me :  and  that  gave  me  abou 
as  much  trouble  as  all  your  pricking  did  good 
So  you  did  not  cam  any  thing.'' 

"  Well/5  said  Lucy,  "  I  will  try  this  afternoon 
while  Royal  is  at  his  studies ;  and  then  he  won't 
want  me  to  go  out  and  play." 

She  took  s  for  her  letter  that  afternoon,  and 
she  pricked  all  that  she  could  find  on  the  page. 
Then  she  put  her  work  carefully  away,  ah' 
except  the  page  itself,  which  she  brought  to  Miss 
Anne,  so  that  she  might  examine  it.  Miss  Anne 
found  that  she  had  done  it  very  well.  She  had 
pricked  almost  every  one.  Miss  Anne  looked  it 
over  very  carefully,  and  could  only  find  two  or 
three  which  Lucy  had  overlooked. 

After  this,  Lucy  persevered  for  several  weeks 
in  pricking  letters.  She  took  a  new  letter  every 
day,  and  she  generally  spent  about  half  an  hour 
at  each  lesson.  She  learned  to  be  very  still  whilf 
she  was  thus  engaged,  saying  nothing  except  to 
pronounce  aloud  the  name  of  the  letter  when  she 
pricked  it,  which  Miss  Anne  said  was  a  very  im- 
portant part  of  the  exercise. 

In  this  way,  in  process  of  time,  she  learned 
all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet ;  and  her  father 
paid  her  the  eight  sixpences.     With  one  of  these 


158  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

sixpences  she  bought  a  fine  black  lead  pencil, 
to  draw  with,  and  a  piece  of  India  rubber,  to  rub 
out  her  marks  when  they  were  made  wrong. 

Miss  Anne  also  taught  her  how  to  make  a 
purse  to  keep  the  rest  of  her  money  in ;  and  when 
the  purse  was  done,  Lucy  put  the  money  into 
it,  and  got  Miss  Anne  to  let  her  keep  it  in  one 
of  her  drawers.  She  was  afraid  it  would  not  be 
quite  safe  in  her  treasury. 


SKETCHING.  169 

CONVERSATION    XIIi. 

SKETCHING. 

Lucy  asked  Miss  Anne  if  she  would  let  hei 
go  with  her  the  next  time  that  she  went  out  to 
make  sketches,  and  let  her  try  to  see  if  she  could 
not  make  sketches  too,  with  her  new  pencil. 
Miss  Anne  had  two  or  three  pencils,  which  she 
kept  in  a  little  morocco  case,  and  some  small 
sheets  of  drawing  paper  in  a  portfolio.  Some- 
times, when  she  went  out  to  walk,  she  used  to 
take  these  drawing  implements  and  materials 
with  her,  and  sit  down  upon  a  bank,  or  upon 
a  rock,  and  draw,  while  Lucy  was  playing 
around. 

But  now,  as  Lucy  herself  had  a  pencil,  she 
wanted  to  carry  it  out,  so  that  she  could  make 
sketches  too. 

Miss  Anne  said  that  she  should  like  this  plan 
very  much ;  and  accordingly,  one  pleasant  sum- 
mer afternoon,  they  set  off.  Miss  Anne  tied 
Lucy's  pencil  and  India  rubber  together,  by  a 
strong  silk  thread,  so  that  the  India  rubber  mighi 


iGO  lucy's  conversations. 

not  be  so  easily  lost.  The  other  necessary  mate- 
rials —  namely,  some  paper,  some  pencils  for  Miss 
Anne,  and  two  thin  books  with  stiff  covers,  to 
lay  their  paper  upon,  while  drawing  —  were  all 
properly  provided,  and  put  in  a  bag,  which  Miss 
Anne  had  made,  and  which  she  always  used  for 
this  purpose. 

Lucy  observed,  also,  that  Miss  Anne  put  some- 
thing else  in  her  bag.  Lucy  thought,  from  its 
appearance,  that  it  was  a  square  block ;  but  it 
was  folded  up  in  a  paper,  and  so  she  could  not 
see.  She  asked  Miss  Anne  what  it  was,  and 
Miss  Anne  told  her  it  was  a  secret. 

They  walked  along  without  any  particular 
adventure  until  they  came  to  a  bridge  across  a 
scream.  It  was  the  same  stream  where  they  had 
sat  upon  the  rocks  and  seen  George  and  the 
other  boys  fishing ;  but  this  was  a  different  part 
of  the  stream,  and  the  water  was  deep  and  still. 
Lucy  and  Miss  Anne  stopped  upon  the  middle 
of  the  bridge,  and  looked  over  the  railing  down 
to  the  dark  water  far  below. 

"  O,  what  aeep  water ! "  said  Lucy. 

"  How  could  we  get  over  this  river  if  it  were 
not  for  this  bridge  ? " 

"  Not  very  conveniently/'  said  Miss  Anne, 

"  We  could  not  get  over  at  all,"  said  Lucy. 


SKETCHING.  161 

"  Perhaps  we  might,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  •'  there 
are  several  ways  of  getting  over  a  river  besides 
going  over  upon  a  bridge." 

"  What  ways  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  One  is  by  a  ferry." 

"  What  is  a  ferry  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"It  is  a  large  boat  which  is  always  ready  to 
carry  persons  across.  The  ferry-man  generally 
lives  in  a  house  veiy  near  the  bank  of  the  river : 
and  if  any  body  wants  to  go  across  the  river,  they 
call  at  his  house  for  him,  and  he  takes  them  across 
in  his  boat.     Then  they  pay  him  some  money." 

"  But  suppose  they  are  on  the  other  side," 
said  Lucy. 

"  Then,"  said  Miss  Anne, "  they  have  to  call  or 
olow  a  trumpet.  Sometimes  they  have  a  trumpet 
for  people  to  blow  when  they  want  the  ferry-man 
to  come  for  them.  But  sometimes,  where  there 
are  a  great  many  travellers  on  the  road  that  leads 
to  the  feny,  the  boats  are  coming  and  going  all  the 
time ;  and  then  people  don't  have  to  call  or  to 
blow  any  trumpet." 

"  How  much  money  do  they  have  to  pay,'' 
said  Lucy,  "  for  carrying  them  across  ?  " 

"  That  depends  upon  circumstances,"  said  Miss 
Anne.  "  If  a  man  goes  alone,  he  does  not  have 
to  pay  so  much  as  he  does  if  he  is  in  a  chaise ; 


162  lucy's  conversations. 

and  if  he  has  a  carriage  and  two  horses,  he  has  tc 
pay  more  still." 

"Why,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "can  they 
carry  over  a  carriage  and  two  horses  in  a  boat  ? ' 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  a  stage-coach  am' 
six  horses,  if  necessary.  They  have  large,  flat- 
bottomed  boats  for  the  carriages  and  carts,  and 
small,  narrow  boats  for  men,  when  they  want  to 
go  alone." 

While  this  conversation  had  been  going  on, 
Miss  Anne  and  Lucy  had  walked  along  to  some 
distance  beyond  the  bridge.  They  took  a  road 
which  led  to  an  old,  deserted  farm-house,  and 
some  other  buildings  around  it,  all  in  a  state  of 
ruin  and  decay.  The  man  who  owned  it  had 
built  himself  a  new  house,  when  he  found  that 
this  was  getting  too  old  to  be  comfortable  to  live 
in.  The  new  house  was  upon  another  part  of  b* 
farm,  and  it  was  another  road  which  led  to  it ;  so 
that  these  old  buildings  had  been  left  in  a  very 
secluded  and  solitary  position.  Miss  Anne  liked 
very  much  to  come  to  this  place,  when  she  came 
out  to  make  sketches,  for  she  said  that  in  all 
the  views  of  the  buildings,  on  every  side,  there 
were  a  great  many  beautiful  drawing  lessons. 

The  roof  of  the  house  in  one  place  had  turn* 
bled  in  and  the  shed  had  blown  down  altogether 


SKETCHING.  163 

There  was  one  barn,  however,  that  was  pretty 
good  ;  and,  in  fact,  the  farmer  used  it  to  store  his 
surplus  hay  in  it. 

Lucy  sat  down,  with   Miss   Anne,  under  the 
shade  of  some  trees,  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
buildings,  and  they  began  to  take  out  their  draw 
ing  materials. 

"  Now,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  what  shall  I 
draw?" 

"  I  think  that  the  well  will  be  the  best  lesson 
for  you." 

There  was  an  old  well  at  a  little  distance  from 
the  house,  upon  the  green,  with  a  group  of  vener- 
able old  lilac  bushes  near  it.  The  water  had 
been  raised  by  a  well-sweep,  but  the  sweep  itself 
had  long  since  gone  to  decay,  though  the  tall  post 
with  a  fork  at  the  top,  which  had  supported  the 
sweep,  was  still  standing. 

So  Miss  Anne  recommended  that  Luc)  should 
attempt  to  draw  the  well. 

"But,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "1  want  to 
draw  the  same  thing  that  you  do." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  then  we  will 
both  draw  the  well." 

"  So  we  will,"  raid  Lucy ;  "  but,  Miss  Anne, 
jrou  must  tell  me  how.  I  don't  know  how  to 
draw,  myself." 


161 


LUCY S     CONVERSATIONS. 


Miss   Anne  gave  Lucy  some  instructions,  a'% 
cording    to  her   request.     She  told  her  that  sh« 
must  mind  the  shape  of  the  things  more  than  any- 
thing else.     "  All  depends  upon  the  proportions," 
said  Miss  Anne. 

"  What  is  proportion  ?  "  said  Lucy.  "  Royal 
told  me  something  about  it,  but  I  could  not  un- 
derstand him  very  well." 

"  Suppose  you  look  over  me  a  few  minutes,  and 
*3e  how  I  do  it,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

Lucy  liked  this  proposal  very  much  ;  and  she 
stood  very  still,  for  some  time,  while  Miss  Anne, 
with  her  paper  upon  her  book,  and  her  book  upon 
her  knee,  began  to  make  her  drawing,  talking 
all  the  time  as  follows  :  — 

"  First,  there  is  the  post ;  I  will  draw  that  first. 
I  must  make  it  look  just  as  long  upon  the  paper 
as  it  does  in  reality.  And  do  you  think  it  stands 
quite  upright  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  it  leans." 

"  Which  way  does  it  lean  ?  "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  It  leans  towards  the  well,  I  think,"  said 
trticy. 

"  So  it  does ;  and  I  must  draw  a  line  for  ono 
side  of  the  post,  and  make  this  line  lean  over 
towards  the  place  where  my  well  is  going  to  be, 
just  as  much  as  the  post  really  leans." 


SKETCHING.  165 

Miss  Anne  then  drew  the  line,  and  asked  Lucy 
to  look  at  it  carefully,  and  see  whether  it  leaned 
any  more,  or  any  less,  than  the  real  post  did. 

Lucy  looked  at  it  very  carefully,  but  she  could 
not  see  that  there  was  any  difference. 

"  Now,"  continued  Miss  Anne,  "  I  must  begin 
to  draw  the  well ;  and  I  must  have  it  at  just  the 
right  distance  from  the  post." 

Then  Miss  Anne  put  down  her  pencil  very 
near  to  the  post,  and  asked  Lucy  if  she  thought 
that  that  was  about  right. 

"  O  no,"  said  Lucy,  "  that  is  a  great  deal  too 
near." 

Miss  Anne  then  moved  the  point  of  her  pencil 
off  almost  to  the  end  of  the  paper. 

"  Would  that  be  right  ? "  said  Miss  Ajine. 

•'  O  no ;  that  is  too  far." 

"  But  it  is  not  so  far  as  it  is  in  reality,  on  the 
ground,  from  the  post  to  the  well." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  but  you  are  not  going  to 
have  the  picture  so  large  as  the  real  well." 

"  That  is  it,  exactly,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  The 
picture  itself  is  all  going  to  be  smaller  than  the  re- 
ality ;  and  the  drawing  of  the  well  must  be  just  as 
much  smaller  than  the  real  well,  as  the  drawing 
of  the  post  is  than  the  real  post.  Then  it  is  all 
in  proportion  " 


166  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Now,"  said  Miss  Anne,  w  I  will  move  mj 
pencil  up  nearer,  and  you  may  tell  me  when  it  is 
too  far  off,  and  when  it  is  too  near,  for  the  propel 
place  for  me  to  draw  the  side  of  the  well.  Is  that 
right  ?  "  she  added,  after  placing  the  point  of  the 
pencil  in  a  new  position. 

"  That  is  too  near,"  said  Lucy. 

"  And  that  ? "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  That  is  about  right,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Look  again,  carefully." 

"  Hark  !  what's  that  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  sounds  like  thunder,"  said  Miss  Anne  ; 
;<  but  I  rather  think  it  is  only  a  wagon  going  over 
the  bridge." 

A  few  minutes  afterwards,  however,  the  sound 
wab  repeated,  louder  and  more  distinct  than 
before,  and  Miss  Anne  said  it  was  thunder,  and 
that  they  must  go  home,  or  that  they  should  get 
caught  in  a  shower.  They  looked  around,  and 
saw  that  there  were  some  large,  dark-looking 
clouds  rising  in  the  west ;  and  Miss  Anne  said 
that  they  must  put  away  their  things,  and  go  home 
as  fast  as  they  could. 

"But,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "it  is  a  gi oat 
way  home.  I  am  afraid  it  will  rain  on  us  before 
we  get  there." 

"  Why,  if  we  can  get  across  the  bridge,"  said 


SKETCHING.  167 

Miss  Ar.ne,  "we  can  go  into  some  of  the 
houses." 

"  Are  there  no  houses  before  we  come  to  thp 
bridge  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  but  I  think  we  shall 
have  time  to  go  farther  than  that." 

By  this  time  they  had  put  up  their  drawing  ma- 
terials, and  began  to  walk  along  towards  the  main 
road.  Miss  Anne  said  that  she  presumed  that  tliey 
should  have  ample  time  to  get  home ;  for  showers 
seldom  came  up  so  very  suddenly  as  to  prevent 
their  getting  home  from  a  walk. 

But  when  they  had  gone  about  half  way  to  the 
bridge,  Miss  Anne  began  to  be  afraid  that  thev 
should  not  get  home.  There  was  a  large,  black 
cloud  spreading  along  the  western  sky,  and  the 
low  and  distant  peals  of  thunder  came  oftener,  and 
grew  gradually  louder  and  louder.  Miss  Anne 
walked  very  fast,  leading  Lucy,  who  ran  along 
by  her  side. 

Just  as  they  came  to  the  bridge,  the  great  drops 
of  rain  began  to  fall. 

"  There !  "  said  Lucy,  —  "  it's  beginning." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  and  I  have  a  great 
mind  to  go  under  the  bridge." 

Miss  Anne  had  just  time  to  say  "  under  the 
bridge,"  when  there  came  another  heavy  clap  of 


L68  lucy's  conversations. 

thunder,  which  sounded  louder  and  nearer  than 
any  which  they  had  heard  before.  This  decided 
Miss  Anne  at  once.  She  turned  off  from  the  en- 
trance to  the  bridge,  and  began  to  walk  down  the 
steep  bank,  leading  Lucy.  When  they  had  de- 
scended to  the  margin  of  the  stream,  they  found  a 
narrow  strip  of  sand  between  the  water  and  the 
foundation  of  the  bridge. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  here  is  plenty  of 
room  for  us  to  stand." 

They  found  a  good  place  to  stand,  with  the 
water  of  the  stream  before  them,  and  the  great 
wall,  which  the  bridge  rested  upon,  behind  them 
There  were  also  some  large,  smooth  stones  lying 
there,  which  they  could  sit  down  upon.  A  very 
few  minutes  after  they  had  fixed  themselves  in 
this  place  of  shelter,  the  rain  began  to  come 
down  in  torrents.  The  thunder  rolled  and  re- 
verberated from  one  part  of  the  heavens  to  an- 
other, and  once  or  twice  Lucy  saw  a  faint  flash 
of  lightning. 

Lucy  was  very  much  amused  at  the  curious  ef- 
fect produced  by  the  drops  of  rain  falling  upon 
the  water.  They  covered  the  water  all  over  with 
little  bubbles.  She  kept  calling  upon  Miss  Anne 
to  see ,  but  Miss  Anne  looked  anxious  and  afraid 
By  and  by,  the  rain  began  to  come  down  through 


SKETCHING.  1 60 

the  bridge,  and  they  had  to  move  a  little  to  keep 
from  getting  wet.  But  they  succeeded  in  getting 
a  dry  place,  and  keeping  pretty  comfortable. 

"But  what  shall  we  do,"  said  Lucy,  <cif  it 
rains  all  night  ?     We  can't  stay  here  all  night." 

"  Thunder  showers,  don't  last  long,"  said  Miss 
Anne.  "  I  presume  it  will  be  pleasant  by  and  by, 
only  we  shall  get  our  feet  wet  going  home ;  for  the 
roads  will  be  very  wet,  and  full  of  pools  of  water 

Just  then  they  heard  the  noise  of  wheels  in  the 
road,  as  if  a  chaise  or  carriage  of  some  sort  were 
coming  along  towards  them.  The  horse  travelled 
very  fast,  and  soon  came  upon  the  bridge,  and 
went  along  over  it,  passing  directly  above  thei* 
heads  with  great  speed,  and  with  a  noise  which 
sounded  louder  to  them  than  any  clap  of  thunder 
which  they  had  heard.  Lucy  was  sure  that  they 
would  break  through,  and  come  down  upon  their 
heads ;  and  even  Miss  Anne  was  a  little  fright- 
ened. They  little  knew  who  it  was  in  the  chaise 
It  was  Royal  going  to  find  them,  to  bring  them 
home.  He  thought  it  probable  that  they  had 
gone  into  the  old,  ruined  buildings,  to  be  sheltered 
from  the  rain,  and  that  he  should  find  them  there. 

After  looking  there  for  them  in  vain,  he  came 
back,  and  he  happened  to  come  to  the  bridge  just 
15 


I  TO 


as  Miss  Anne  and  Lucy  were  coming  out  from 
under  it.  They  were  very  glad  to  see  him.  The 
shower  was  over.  The  sun  had  come  out;  the 
grass  and  trees  were  glittering  with  the  reflection 
of  the  bright  light  from  the  drops  of  rain  ;  and 
there  were  two  great  rainbows  in  the  east,  one 
bright,  and  the  other  rather  faint.  Royal  said  that 
he  would  have  the  faint  rainbow,  and  Lucy  might 
have  the  bright  one  for  hers.  Lucy's  rainbow 
lasted  until  some  time  after  they  got  home. 


CONVERSATION    XIV 
DANGER. 

Lucy  often  had  singular  adventures  with  Royal 
and  her  father ;  but  one,  which  interested  her  as 
much  as  any,  was  an  adventure  she  once  met 
with  in  crossing  a  river.  The  circumstances  were 
these :  — 

They  were  on  a  journey ;  Lucy  and  Royal 
were  travelling  with  their  father  and  mother. 

One  evening,  after  they  had  reached  the  end 
of  the  journey  for  the  day,  the  party  stopped  in  a 
village,  built  upon  an  eminence,  which  overlooked 
a  broad  and  very  fertile-looking  valley.  It  con- 
sisted of  extensive  intervals,  level  and  green,  and 


DANGER.  \f{ 

spotted  with  elms,  and  with  a  river  winding 
through  them,  until  its  course  was  lost  among  the 
trees,  a  few  miles  below.  After  tea,  Royal  want- 
ed to  go  down,  across  the  intervals,  to  the  bank 
of  the  river,  to  see  the  water. 

"  O  yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  let  me  go  too, 
father." 

"  O  no,"  said  Royal,  "  you  must  not  go." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Because,"  said  Royal,  "  we  may  find  a  boat 
there,  and  want  to  take  a  sail  in  it;  and  you 
couldn't  go." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Because,"  said  Royal,  "  you  wouldn't  dare 
to  go." 

"  Yes  I  should,"  said  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Royal,  "  you  don't  dare  to  sleep  in 
a  room  alone  at  night,  in  a  hotel." 

"  But  I  think  she  will  not  be  afraid  to  go  in 
the  boat,"  said  her  father.  "  At  any  rate,  we  will 
let  her  go  with  us." 

Lucy  then  went  to  get  her  bonnet ;  and  when 
they  were  all  ready,  she  and  Royal  went  out 
together ;  their  father  followed  immediately  after 
wards.  Their  mother,  being  fatigued,  preferred 
to  remain  at  home. 

From  the  principal  street  of  the  village,  they 
passed  out,  through  a  pair  of  bars,  into  a  cart  road, 
which  led  through  the  mowing  field's  down  to- 
wards the  intervals. 

They   walked   on   together,  until    they   cam 
down  to  the  intervals,  which  were  level  fields  o/ 


172 


grass  and  flowers,  very  beautiful,  and  extending 
on  each  side  of  them  very  far.  The  road  gradu- 
ally grew  narrower,  until  at  length  it  became  a 
mere  path,  which  finally  conducted  them  to 
the  bank  of  the  river.  Royal  and  Lucy  stood 
upon  the  bank,  and  looked  down  into  the  water. 

The  bank  was  quite  high  and  steep,  formed  of 
earth,  which  seemed  to  be,  from  time  to  time, 
caving  into  the  water.  It  was  green  to  the  very 
brink,  and  some  large  masses  of  turf  lay  down 
below  at  the  water's  edge,  and  partly  in  the  wa- 
ter, where  they  had  apparently  fallen  from  above. 
The  shore  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  was, 
however,  very  different.  It  was  a  low,  sandy 
beach,  with  the  water  rippling  along  the  pebbles, 
which  lay  upon  the  margin  of  it. 

"  O  father,"  said  Royal,  "  I  wish  we  could  get 
over  to  that  beach." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  then  we  could  get 
down  and  throw  stones  into  the  water." 

"  If  we  had  a  boat,"  said  Royal,  "  we  could 
get  across." 

"  O  no,"  said  their  father,  "  this  river  is  too 
shallow  for  a  boat." 

"  How  do  you  know,  father  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Why,  I  can  see  the  bottom  all  the  way  ;  and 
then  1  know  by  the  rapidity  of  the  current,  that 
it  must  be  quite  shallow." 

Just  then  they  observed  some  men  coming 
down  towards  them,  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 
Royal's  father  asked  them,  when  they  came  up 
to  where  he  was  standing,  if  there  were  anv 
boats  on  the  river. 


DANGER.  173 

"  Yes,"  said  the  men,  "  there  is  a  small  boat 
just  above  here,  which  you  can  have  if  you  want. 
Only  bring  it  safe  back  again." 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  said  Lucy's 
father ;  "are  there  any  oars  ?  " 

"  There  are  some  paddles,"  replied  one  of  the 
men.  "  They're  hid  in  the  bushes,  just  opposite 
the  boat.  There  is  a  padlock  on  the  bGat,  and  it 
looks  as  if  it  was  locked,  but  it  is  not.  You  can 
take  the  padlock  right  off." 

The  men  then  went  on  their  way  down  the 
river,  and  Lucy  and  Royal  ran  along  the  bank 
to  see  if  they  could  find  the  boat.  Their 
father  followed  them  more  slowly.  Presently, 
however,  they  all  came  to  the  place  where  the 
boat  was  lying. 

It  was  a  very  small  boat  indeed.  It  was 
drawn  up  partly  upon  the  bank,  which  was  here 
not  quite  so  steep  as  where  the  children  had  first 
stood,  but  was  yet  considerably  precipitous.  The 
boat  was  fastened,  by  a  chain,  to  the  root  of  a 
large  elm-tree,  which  was  growing  upon  the  bank, 
the  roots  having  been  laid  bare  by  the  action  of 
the  water.  There  was  a  padlock  passing  through 
a  link  of  the  chain  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the 
boat  the  appearance  of  being  fastened  ;  buf  Lu- 
cy's father  found  that  the  padlock  would  open 
easily,  without  any  unlocking,  and  so  they  soon 
got  the  boat  at  liberty. 

Royal  then  went  to  look  around  among  the 
grass  and  bushes  near,  to  see  if  he  could  find  the 
paddles.  Presently  he  cal  ed  out,  "  Here  th«y 
15* 


174 


are !  "  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  brought  the  m  tc 
his  father. 

"  Now,  Lucy,"  said  her  father,  do  you  want  to 
get  in  and  sail  across  the  river  ? " 

"  Isn't  there  any  danger  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  father,  "  I  think  there  is  con- 
siderable danger." 

"  What !  that  we  shall  get  drowned  ? "  ex- 
claimed Lucy. 

"  No,"  replied  her  father ;  "  only  that  we  shall 
get  upset." 

"  Well,  father,"  said  Lucy,  "  if  we  get  upset, 
we  shall  certainly  be  drowned." 

"  O  no,"  replied  her  father ;  "  the  water  isn't 
deep  enough  to  drown  us  anywhere,  if  we  stand 
upright  upon  the  bottom.  And  then,  besides, 
there  is  no  danger  that  we  shall  be  upset,  unless 
where  it  is  very  shallow  indeed.  The  current 
may  sweep  us  away  down  the  stream,  so  that  we 
shall  lose  command  of  the  boat,  and  then,  if  we 
strike  a  large  stone,  or  a  sunken  log,  the  boat 
might  fill  or  go  over ;  but,  then,  in  the  places 
where  the  current  is  so  rapid,  the  water  is  no- 
where more  than  knee  deep.  Now  you  may  gc 
with  us  or  not,  Just  as  you  please." 

"  Royal,  what  would  you  do? "  said  Lucy 

"  O,  I'd  go,"  said  Royal,  "  by  all  means." 

"  Would  you,  father  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  father,  "  unless  you  are  very 
much  afraid." 

Lucy  said  she  was  a  little  afraid,  but  not  much  , 
and  sne  cautiously  stepped  into  the  boat.     Royal 


DANGER.  175 

got  in  after  her,  and  when  the  two  children  had 
taken  their  seats,  their  father  followed  them,  and 
took  his  place  in  the  stern,  with  one  of  the  pad- 
dles. Royal  had  the  other.  The  stern  is  the 
hinder  part  of  a  boat.  The  forward  part  is  called 
the  bows.  There  was  a  chain  attached  to  the 
bows  of  the  boat,  by  which  it  had  been  fastened 
to  the  shore. 

(:  Now,  Royal,"  said  his  father,  when  they  were 
all  seated,  you  must  remember  that,  if  you  go  with 
us,  you  must  obey  my  orders  exactly." 

"  Yes,  father,  I  will,"  said  Royal. 

"  And  suppose,"  said  his  father,  "  that  I  ordti 
you  to  jump  into  the  river." 

"  Then  I'll  jump  right  in,"  said  Royal. 

"  Well,"  said  his  father,  "  we  shall  see." 

Royal  was  seated  forward,  at  the  bows  of  the 
boat.  The  boat  was  flat-bottomed,  and  square 
at  both  ends,  so  that  there  was  very  little  differ- 
ence between  the  bows  and  the  stern,  and  there 
was  a  place  to  sit  at  each.  Royal  put  his  paddle 
into  the  water,  and  began  to  paddle  a  little ;  but 
they  made  no  progress,  until  his  father  was  ready 
to  work  his  paddle  at  the  stern  of  the  boat ;  and 
then  it  began  slowly  to  glide  up  the  river,  keep 
ing,  however,  all  the  time  near  the  bank  from 
which  they  had  set  out.  The  water  appeared 
to  be  much  deeper  on  this  side  than  on  the  other, 
and  the  current  was  not  so  rapid.  Lucy,  however, 
by  looking  over  the  side  of  the  boat,  could  plainly 
see  the  gravel- stones  upon  the  bottom. 

They  went  along  ven   smoothly  and  prosper 


'76  lucy's  conversations. 

ously,  but  yet  very  slowly,  for  some  time  ;  an  J  at 
length  Royal  asked  his  father  to  put  out  more 
into  the  stream.  So  his  father  turned  the  head 
of  the  boat  out,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes  thej 
found  themselves  in  the  middle  of  the  river 
Now,  however,  instead  of  moving  up,  they  found, 
by  looking  upon  the  stones  at  the  bottom,  that 
they  were  drifting  ,o!own.  Royal  observed,  too, 
that  the  water  had  become  much  more  shallow, 
and  the  current  was  stronger.  He  looked  at  his 
father,  and  found  that  he  was  exerting  himself, 
with  all  his  strength,  to  force  the  boat  against  the 
current,  and  keep  it  from  being  carried  away. 

But  the  water  was  so  shallow,  that  the  end  of 
his  paddle  rubbed  upon  the  bottom,  and  pre- 
vented his  keeping  the  boat  under  command. 
Then  he  thought  that  he  would  use  his  paddle 
for  a  setting-pole,  instead  of  a  paddle ;  that  is, 
that  he  would  plant  the  lower  end  of  it  firmly  into 
the  gravel  at  the  bottom,  and  then  push  against 
it,  and  so  force  the  boat  to  go  up  the  stream. 

In  attempting  to  do  this,  however,  he  lost  the 
command  of  his  boat  still  more.  The  current, 
setting  strong  against  the  bows,  swept  that  end  of 
the  boat  round,  so  as  to  bring  her  broadside  to  the 
stream ;  and  then  she  was  entirely  at  the  mere)  of 
the  water,  which  here  seemed  to  pour  over  tlie 
stones  in  a  torrent.  The  boat  went  flying  along 
over  the  rippling  waves,  within  a  very  few  inches 
of  the  pebble-stones  below.  Royal  began  to  be 
seriously  afraid. 

"  Can't  you  stop  K«r  father  ?  "  said  he. 


DANGER.  177 

His  father  did  not  answer,  he  was  so  intent 
jpon  the  effort  which  he  was  making.  He  had 
thought  of  one  more  plan.  He  planted  the  fool 
of  his  paddle  into  the  gravel  on  the  bottom,  oppo- 
site the  middle  of  the  boat,  and  then,  letting  the 
middle  of  the  boat  press  against  it,  he  endeavored 
to  hold  it  by  main  force ;  but  the  force  of  the 
water  was  so  great,  that  the  boat  was  crowded 
over  until  it  just  began  to  let  in  water ;  so  that 
he  was  obliged  to  release  his  hold,  and  the  boat 
d"ifted  away  again.  He  then  took  his  seat  once 
more  in  the  stern  of  the  boat. 

"  Now,  Royal,"  said  he,  "  stand  up  and  tak( 
hold  of  the  painter." 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"The  chain,"  replied  his  father  —  "the  chain 
fastened  to  the  bows." 

Royal  did  so. 

"  Now,"  said  his  father,  "  stand  up  steadily 
upon  the  bows,  and  then  step  down  carefully  into 
the  water." 

Royal  obeyed  his  father's  command  with  much 
firmness.  The  water  was  about  up  to  his  knees. 
He  sta£jrered  a  little  at  first,  as  he  carried  with 
him  the  motion  of  the  boat;  but  he  soon  re- 
gained a  firm  footing. 

"  Now  stand  still,"  said  his  father, "  and  hold 
on, 

Royal  braced  himself,  by  his  position  in  the 
water,  against  the  action  of  the  boat,  which  pulled 
hard  upon  the  painter,  and  this  immediately  brought 
the  boat  round,  into  a  position  parallel  with  the 


178  lucy's  conversations. 

direction  of  the  current.  By  holding  on  firmly 
a  moment  longer,  he  stopped  the  boat,  and  the 
current  swept  swiftly  by  it,  dashing  the  rippling 
waves  almost  over  the  bows.  Lucy  sat  all  this 
time  very  quietly  on  the  middle  seat,  without 
saying  a  word. 

"  Now,  Royal,"  said  his  father,  "see  if  you  can 
draw  us  in  towards  the  shore." 

Royal  found,  that  although  it  had  been  so  dif 
ficult  for  his  father  to  push  the  boat  by  the  head, 
yet  that  he  himself  could  draw  it  pretty  easily 
with  the  chain.  So  he  walked  along  through  the 
water  towards  the  shore,  drawing  the  boat  after 
him.  In  a  few  minutes,  he  had  the  bows  safely 
drawn  up  upon  the  sand. 

His  father  then  stepped  out  upon  the  beach, 
telling  Lucy  to  sit  still.  He  took  his  stand  back 
a  little,  where  the  gravel  was  dry,  while  Royal 
remained  just  in  the  edge  of  the  water. 

"  Now,  Royal,"  said  his  father,  "  you  may  see  if 
you  can  draw  Lucy  up  the  river.  Keep  just  far 
enough  from  the  shore  to  make  the  water  half 
knee  deep." 

Royal  was  much  pleased  with  this  arrange- 
ment ;  and  as  for  Lucy,  she  was  delighted.  She 
sat  upon  the  middle  seat,  balancing  herself  ex- 
actly, so  as  not  to  upset  the  boat ;  while  Roya* 
waded  along,  drawing  her  through  the  water, 
which  curled  and  rippled  on  each  side. 

"O  Lucy,"  said  Royal,  stopping  to  look 
round,  "  we  can  play  this  is  a  canal-boat,  and 
that  I  am  the  horse." 


DANGER.  179 

"  So  we  can,"  said  Lucy ;  and  she  began  im- 
mediately to  chirup  to  him,  to  make  him  go 
faster. 

Royal  dragged  the  boat  along;  while  his  father 
walked  upon  the  shore.  Presently  they  came 
to  a  place  where  the  water  began  to  be  deeper, 
and  the  bottom  more  sandy  ;  and  Koyal  perceived 
that  the  current  was  not  nearly  as  rapid.  He 
looked  up  to  see  how  the  water  appeared  before 
him,  and  he  found  that  it  was  smooth  and  glassy, 
instead  of  being  rippled  and  rough,  as  it  had  been 
below.  His  father  noticed  this  difference  in  the 
appearance  of  the  water  too ;  and  he  told  Royal 
that  it  was  a  sign  that  there  was  no  current 
there.  So  he  directed  Royal  to  come  in  to  the 
shore,  and  they  would  all  get  in  again. 

Royal  accordingly  drew  the  boat  up  to  the 
shore,  and  they  all  got  in.  Now  they  found 
that  they  could  paddle  the  boat  very  easily.  It 
glided  over  the  smooth  water  with  a  very  gentle 
and  pleasant  motion.  Lucy  looked  over  the  side, 
and  watched  the  change  in  the  sandy  bottom  far 
below.  Sometimes  she  saw  a  great  log  lying 
across  the  bed  of  the  stream,  then  a  rock,  half 
imbedded  in  the  sand,  and  next  a  school  of  little 
fishes.  The  land,  too,  looked  beautiful  on  each 
side,  as  they  passed  along.  There  were  willows 
here  lining  the  bank,  and  now  and  then  a  great 
elm,  with  branches  drooping  over  almost  into  the 
water. 

After  sailing  about  in  this  smooth  water  a  little 
while,  their  father  said  that  it  was  time  for  therr 


180  LUCYS    CONVERSATIONS. 

lo  go  home ;  and  so  he  brought  the  boat  rounc 
turning  her  head  down  the  stream.  After  going 
down  in  that  direction  or  a  little  while,  Royal 
said, 

"  Why,  father,  you  are  going  right  upon  the 
ripples  again." 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father,  "  we  are  going  over 
them." 

"  O  father,"  said  Lucy,  "  we  shall  upset." 

"  No,"  said  her  father,  "  there  is  no  danger, 
going  down." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"  Because,"  said  his  father,  "  I  shall  keep  her 
head  down,  and  then,  if  we  strike  a  snag,  it  will 
do  no  harm." 

"  What  is  a  snag?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  a  log  sunk  in  the  water,"  replied  her 
father. 

By  this  time  they  had  begun  to  enter  the 
rippling  water,  and  the  boat  shot  swiftly  along, 
bounding  o\er  the  little  billows  very  merrily. 
Lucy  was  at  first  a  little  afraid,  but  she  soon 
began  to  feel  safe,  and  to  enjoy  the  rapid  motion. 
They  soon  reached  the  place  where  they  had 
taken  the  boat,  and,  leaving  it  there,  fastened 
securely  as  they  had  found  it,  they  all  went  back 
across  the  intervals  towards  home. 


THE    END. 


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VB  37065 


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